Into Your Gravity
by sockyferret
Summary: When Luna makes a terrible mistake and ends up in a time she never imagined she'd been in, what will happen before she gets back? And what will she do when she realizes that Tom Riddle is in her year? Rated M for language, some violence, & sexual content.
1. No Cure For Curiosity

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter One: No Cure For Curiosity

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. I own a cat who's on anti-depressants though. For serious.

A/N: This takes place during an AU 7th year for Harry, putting Luna in 6th year.

* * *

_Set me free, leave me be  
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity  
Here I am  
And I stand so tall  
Just the way I'm supposed to be  
But you're onto me  
All over me  
You loved me because I'm fragile  
When I thought I was strong  
But you touch me for a little while  
And all my fragile strength is gone  
--Sara Bareilles, __Gravity_

* * *

"Hello," Luna said pleasantly as she opened to compartment door to reveal Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley. As the train began to move, she sat down next to Ginny.

"Hi, Luna," said Ron. He struggled not to laugh at her appearance: she was wearing a light yellow sweater and a red skirt, as well as her usual radish earrings, and to top it all of she had donned purple, knee-high stockings.

"How was your break?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, it was fine. My father and I spent most of it looking for a living specimen of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Biting a few words back, Hermione said, "Oh? And did you find one?"

"No," Luna replied dreamily. "I suppose that when they heard we were looking for them, they all left the area. They're very shy creatures."

This, apparently, was too much for Hermione, but Harry quickly interrupted before Hermione could say anything less than pleasant. "That's too bad," he said, shooting Hermione a look.

Luna sighed. "Yes, it's all right though. How have you all been?"

Each Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny gave a brief explanation of their summers, while Luna nodded, politely interested.

They talked for several hours, Luna occasionally mentioning something that brought a look that was most unflattering to Hermione's face, particularly when she mentioned the fact that her father planned to do an investigation into whether or not the Ministry of Magic did, in fact, own several heliopaths.

"You do know, of course, that heliopaths don't even really exist, right?" Hermione said through gritted teeth, unable to stop herself.

Luna gave an uncharacteristically sour look before saying, "Of course they do."

Hermione, out of fondness for Luna and wishing to avoid a confrontation, said nothing.

The trolley witch arrived, and each of them bought something. Luna was biting into a particularly chewy licorice wand when she suddenly pointed at Neville and said, "What's the matter with Trevor?"

Trevor the toad was in Neville's lap, and at the current moment, he seemed to be choking on a very long, fine chain.

"Oh, no! Trevor!" Neville cried.

A few moments of utter panic ensued before Luna quietly snatched the toad from Neville's hands. She took him close to her, ignoring his unpleasant retching noises, and bent her head over him. Her long, dirty blonde hair created a sheet around her lap and the toad, so that the others couldn't see exactly what she was doing. However, after a few moments, the retching sounds subsided, and when she looked up again, she was holding the long chain in one hand, and stroking Trevor's back with the other.

"He's fine, just a bit surprised, I think," she said calmly as she handed the toad back to Neville.

"You've saved him! What did you do?" said Neville, his previously worry-flushed face relaxed again.

"I just had to coax it out of him," Luna replied, as though coaxing amphibians was perfectly normal. While the rest of them crowded around Trevor to make sure he was all right, Luna looked at the chain in her hand. At the end it held a tiny hourglass encased in gold. Despite it being slightly coated in toad saliva, it was quite lovely. Glancing up at the others, she gently draped the chain around her neck. Inspecting the hourglass more closely, she gave it a casual flick, causing it to turn wildly on its axle. Delighted, she flicked it again and again and again, continuing ceaselessly for several minutes until she heard a shriek.

"Luna! That's my Time-Turner!" Hermione screeched, her face suddenly pasty white.

But a second later, Luna was gone.

"Oh no," Hermione said, pacing back and forth. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no."

Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Ron all stared at her with dumbstruck looks on their faces.

"What do we do?" she suddenly shrieked, collapsing in Luna's vacated seat.

Harry timidly said, "Erm, well, she's gone back in time, then?"

"Of course she's gone back in time, Harry! This is terrible!" Hermione cried, running a shaky hand through her bushy hair.

"Why do you have a Time-Turner?" Ginny implored.

"Yeah, I thought you gave it back to McGonagall," Ron said, looking distinctly green.

"You mean you had one before?" Ginny asked, forgetting the issue at hand for a moment in favor of interest.

"Yes, yes, I gave it back, but I got it again. McGonagall mailed it to me this summer with my Head Girl letter. Something about having too many classes to be Head Girl too, but there wasn't anyone else for the job – Oh, this is awful!" Hermione said rapidly, dropping her face into her hands.

Deciding not the push it, Ron sat next to Hermione and awkwardly patted her on the back. "It'll turn out all right," he said, though his face said quite the opposite.

"No, it w-won't," Hermione said, beginning to cry. "I left it in my pocket, and it must have fallen out, and then Trevor tried to eat it, and - we've no idea how far in the past she is! For all we know, she sat there spinning the bloody thing for f-five m-m-minutes!" she wailed.

Looking pleadingly at Harry for help, Ron said, "Look, Hermione, we'll talk to McGonagall when we get to school, all right?"

Hermione's body was racked with sobs for a few minutes. Harry and Ginny and even Neville surrounded her, trying to comfort her. After a lot of assuring her that it wasn't her fault, and that everything would be worked out, she looked up at them with her tear streaked face. Wiping her wet cheeks, she said, "Yes, I suppose you're right. There's no point worrying about it right now, and I'm sure Professor McGonagall will know what to do." She said this as though she were trying to convince herself as much as them.

The rest of the train ride was, without a doubt, the longest they'd ever had.

* * *

"Luna! That's my Time-Turner!" Hermione screeched, her face suddenly pasty white.

Luna meant to say something back, but at that moment, the hourglass ceased spinning. At that same moment, the train compartment around her began to dissolve rapidly. Luna, utterly caught off guard for perhaps the first time in her life, tried to scream but couldn't make any noise as she seemed to fly backwards extremely fast. This went on for what felt like at least ten minutes. Then, suddenly, she felt solid ground under her feet, but she toppled over. She landed on a seat, and, looking around, she realized she was in the same compartment on the Hogwarts Express that she had just left, but now she was quite alone. Taking a moment to steady herself, she stood and peered out the window. The sky outside was now dark, with stars glittering, and off in the distance she could see the lights and turrets of the Hogwarts castle. Sighing with relief, she exited the compartment. She looked up and down the hall, even poking her head into a few other compartments, before deciding that the Hogwarts Express was utterly deserted.

_Whatever happened, _she thought, _everyone must already have gotten off the train._

She proceeded to get off the train. She glanced around once more for a sign of someone, but after seeing no one, not even the thestrals pulling the carriages, she began the long trek up to the school on foot.


	2. What Year Is It?

**Into Your Gravity  
**Chapter Two: What Year Is It?

* * *

**Disclaimer:** It belongs to J.K. Rowling. I don't own nothing at all. Don't want it neither. Wouldn't know where to put it. I don't even own this disclaimer.

* * *

"_This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it."  
--Ralph Waldo Emerson_

* * *

Luna reached the large, oak doors to the castle and pulled one open. She stepped into the warm entrance hall and heard the familiar sounds of voices pouring from the Great Hall. She began her way towards the doors to the Great Hall, and was about to open the door, when a voice behind her said, "May I help you with something, miss?"

Luna turned to see a much younger-looking Albus Dumbledore, his hair and beard auburn, but much shorter. He was obviously about to lead the new first years into the Hall, and they stood behind him, peering at her with a mixture of nerves and curiosity.

For a moment, Luna was tempted to gape at Dumbledore like a fish, simply being because he was alive. "Professor Dumbledore!" she said.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, and looked at her with his piercing blue eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know your name."

Once again, she was thrown for a moment, before remembering what Hermione has screamed at her: _Luna! That's my Time-Turner!_ Luna had heard of Time-Turners before, though she hadn't seen one. _I must have gone back in time. Oh, how interesting!_

"I'm Luna Lovegood," she stated, regaining her composure. For a moment she considered telling Dumbledore the truth then and there, but, after giving the interested first years another glance, decided to wait. "Sir, may I meet with you after the feast? It's very important," she said.

Dumbledore peered over his spectacles at her for another moment before deciding she was trustworthy, and said, "All right. If you would like to join in the feast, you may."

"Thank you, sir," Luna replied, and she followed the first years into the Great Hall. She didn't notice the curious stares in her direction as she walked towards the Ravenclaw table without thinking about it. "Hello there," she said mildly, as she plopped herself down next to a raven haired girl who looked about her age. The girl merely gawked at Luna and her strange clothing.

The sorting passed fairly quickly and Luna, as usual, clapped very hard when a new Ravenclaw was announced. This caused more appalled looks in her direction, but she still failed to notice. Throughout the feast, she chatted idly with the black haired girl, who said very little in return.

Finally, the feast was over, and Luna remained behind as the rest of the students filtered out of the Great Hall to head to bed. Luna herself stretched and gave a long yawn.

"Tired, Miss Lovegood?" a voice asked beside her.

Looking up into Dumbledore's face, she smiled pleasantly and said, "Oh, yes, I've had a long day."

"Well, I hope you are up to speaking with me now that the feast is over," he said, his eyes sparkling.

"Oh, absolutely," she replied, standing up.

Dumbledore lead her out of the Great Hall and up several staircases to his office. Luna looked around, interested, at all the books and read titles such as, "Animagi: The Complete Guide," and "Transfiguration for the Advanced Performer."

"So, you teach Transfiguration right now, then?" she asked lightly.

Dumbledore had seated himself behind his desk, and gestured for her to sit opposite him. "Yes, I do," he replied.

Luna smiled across the table at him, her large gray-blue eyes staring into his light blue ones.

Dumbledore returned her smile before saying, "Now, Miss Lovegood, if you would be so kind as to tell me what you are doing here? Or perhaps you would allow me to venture a guess."

Luna raised her eyebrows. "Of course."

Dumbledore pressed his fingertips together in front of his face and said, "Are you from the future?"

Pleased, Luna said, "Well, yes, I am."

Leaning back in his chair and smiling, Dumbledore said, "Ah, I thought so. If your clothing and behavior didn't give you away, the Time-Turner around your neck most certainly did. So please tell me, how did you get here?"

Luna told him the story quite calmly, as though she were speaking about the weather. When she had finished, Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "So, you are from the year 1997? Is that right?"

Luna nodded.

"Well, this is all of the greatest interest, and as you can imagine, I am having quite a difficult time restraining myself from bombarding you with questions," Dumbledore said after a moment.

"Oh, would you like to know about the future?" Luna asked.

"Yes, of course I would, but it would really be much better if you didn't tell me. Telling me might make a right mess of things, you know," he said, his eyes twinkling. "Now, which house were you in, are you in, or will you be in, depending how you look at it?"

"Ravenclaw," she replied.

"Ah, of course, I knew the moment I saw you. Well then, you most certainly know your way to Ravenclaw Tower. I believe the sixth year girls will greet you quite warmly," he said.

"Excuse me, sir?" she said.

"Well, you must continue your schooling, now, Miss Lovegood. Your time in the past will not be wasted," he replied cheerfully. "We shall place you into the classes you would have been taking in your own time. I'll alert Headmaster Dippet of this unusual situation, though I do think I'll keep it quiet from the rest of the teachers. And you, of course, must be discreet with the other students. I will have your schedule and robes waiting for you in the morning. I suppose you'd like some clothes as well," he said thoughtfully.

"But won't I be going back to my own time?" she asked, beginning to feel the onset of panic.

"Absolutely," he answered, "as soon as I can figure out how to get you there. Now, make a list of your classes for me, and then off you get!"

Now feeling quite upset, she scribbled down her class list for him, before standing from her chair.

Dumbledore stood as well. "Now, now, don't look so worried, it will all work out in the end, it always does," he said. "I bid you goodnight, and sleep well! You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, and we wouldn't want you dozing off during you lessons, now would we?" He bowed to her as she moved towards the door. "Goodnight, Miss Lovegood."

"Goodnight, Professor." She reached out and had her hand on the doorknob when she turned back around. "Sir?"

"Yes, Miss Lovegood?"

"What year is it?"

He chuckled. "It is 1943, Miss Lovegood."

"Oh! I certainly didn't turn the Time-Turner that much!" she said, startled.

"Well, no, but Time-Turners really aren't meant to be used to go back far distances. If you were spinning it constantly for too long, I believe yours may have broken. Take a look," he said calmly.

Grabbing the chain from around her neck, she stared at the tiny hourglass. Indeed, a long crack had gone through the glass. "So…so I'm here because the Time-Turner broke?"

"Well, you would have gone back in time no matter what, I suppose, but since it broke I believe you were thrown back farther than you were intended to go, strictly speaking. Then again, you did not intend to go anywhere!" he replied cheerfully.

Luna was nonplussed, but managed, "Oh. Well, goodnight then," and she exited his office.


	3. Late Night Introductions

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter Three: Late Night Introductions

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I own the following natter. But not Harry Potter. Damn.

* * *

"_Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."  
--Eric Hoffer_

* * *

As Luna exited Professor Dumbledore's office, she was suddenly hit with the gravity of what had happened. _All right. Let's see. I'm in the past. Very far in the past, _she corrected herself, crinkling her nose. _Even Professor Dumbledore has no idea how to get me back. Well, good job, Loony Lovegood, you've done it this time. _She sighed, and began walking the familiar path to Ravenclaw Tower.

_I suppose I might as well enjoy it while I can. And besides, it will be a very interesting adventure, I'm sure Daddy will want to write about it in The Quibbler. Oooh and think of all the people I'll meet! Maybe people back then, er, now aren't as close-minded as people in my time! Maybe someone will have actually seen a Crumple-Horned Snorkack! _Her thoughts rambled on, and she grew more excited by the minute.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when she ran headlong into someone. Stumbling, she said dreamily, "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Clearly," said an annoyed voice.

Looking up to see who she had hit, she saw a boy about her age. He had a Prefect badge pinned to his robes. He had black hair that was swept back, but still hung into his eyes a bit, and right now he was x-raying her with his dark blue eyes. _Dark blue? _she thought mildly, _They're almost black._

"What are you doing out of your dormitory? Its after hours," he said sternly.

"I know. I was just headed there now. I'm a – a new student," she said, smiling pleasantly.

He looked at her intently, taking in her appearance. His eyes lingered on her purple stockings for a moment, before he returned to her face. "I see. Which house are you in?"

"Ravenclaw. I…I'm a bit lost," she said lamely.

"I'll take you to your common room," and he turned on his heel and began walking towards Ravenclaw Tower.

Luna had to jog to catch up to him and his long strides. "That's very nice of you," she said.

"You say you're a new student?" he asked, as though she hadn't spoken.

"Mmhm. I just arrived here today."

He sneered. "Well, so did everyone else. It's the first day back."

Completely missing the sarcasm in his voice, she said, "Oh, of course. But I'm a completely new student. Never been here before!" She smiled warmly at him, a gesture which he did not return.

* * *

Tom continued walking with the girl. There were a few moments of silence between them, with only their echoing footsteps breaking it. Then he asked, "Why?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why are you coming here all of a sudden? You've got to be in a least sixth year," he said, shooting her a look.

"Well, I…." She fumbled awkwardly for a moment before saying, "My family just moved here. We moved into a new home, and now I'm going to a new school. Its all so exciting!" She threw her arms in the air happily on the last word.

Her hesitation did not go unnoticed. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not," the girl said indignantly.

"Yes, you are. I can tell." He glanced at her once more, before stopping. "Why would you bother lying to me? It's not that important is it?"

The girl inspected him in a way that he profoundly did not like. She seemed to be studying his face, and when their eyes met, he had the uncomfortable feeling that she could see much more in his eyes than he would have liked.

She suddenly smiled. "Nope, its not," she said airily, before flouncing on.

He stared after her for a moment. She was a nutter, that one. Completely off her rocker.

He hurried to catch up to her. "I'm Tom Riddle, by the way."

"I'm Luna Lovegood," she said.

"Lovegood?" He furrowed his brow. "I think I've heard of the name."

"You probably have," she said. "It's a very old wizarding family."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You're pureblood then?"

"Mmhm," she replied, as though this was of absolutely no importance and she was almost bored. "Tom Riddle…your name sounds familiar, too."

A look of disgust passed across his face. "I'm certain you wouldn't have heard of it."

"All right, then," she said, and promptly dismissed it.

Silence engulfed them once more, and Tom took this chance to inspect the girl next to him once more. She was quite strange, there was no denying it. From the way she drifted rather than walked all the way down to the small radishes dangling from her ears, she was undoubtedly the oddest girl he had ever met. Her long blonde hair reached all the way down to her waist, with slight waves in it. It was clear she didn't do much with it, but it looked soft and pleasant nonetheless. Her face had dainty features, with a narrow nose, full lips, and arched eyebrows. It was her eyes that were her most striking feature, though. They were light blue, or maybe grey, with long lashes. Her eyes seemed to be full of _something_, though what it was, Tom hadn't the faintest idea. _Probably insanity, _he thought shrewdly. He dismissed all these thoughts from his mind as they reached a wooden door with a bronze, eagle-shaped knocker on it.

"This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room," he said.

"Thank you," she replied breezily, with a small smile on her face. "I suppose I'll see you around, then?"

Tom held back a snort. The fact was, he probably would never talk to her again, but for the sake of pleasantry, he replied, "Sure."

"By the way, what year are you in?"

"Sixth." He then turned away, and began walking back down the stairs. Before he was out of earshot, he heard her knock on the door with the knocker, followed by a pleasant voice asking, "Is a patronus a living being?"

* * *

Luna entered the Ravenclaw common room. Only a few students were still awake, and they all looked at her curiously. She smiled at them all, and made her way up the staircase to the girls' dormitories. She found the sixth year one, knocked, and entered. Four girls were already in the room, including the girl with black hair that Luna had sat next to during dinner. They were each sitting on one of the five beds, but one bed remained empty. They all looked up at her entrance, and then gaped openly at her.

"Hello," she said mildly. "I'm a new student here. I'm in sixth year."

After a moment, the girl with black hair cleared her throat and said, "Hi. Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Catalina Litner, but I go by Cat." She had dark brown eyes, and pointed features. She was not classically pretty, but was attractive nonetheless.

"I'm Tristy Viridian," said a girl with curly brown hair and big green eyes. She had a large book in her hands, and Luna wondered vaguely what she was reading. Tristy gave Luna a small smile.

A girl with blonde hair up in a ponytail, who was very pretty, said, "I'm Lucinda McTavish." The girl looked at Luna rather as though Luna were a rather interesting bug, but Luna didn't notice.

"And I'm Lorraine Ackerly," said the last girl, who had short, straight brown hair, and was a bit overweight. She smiled kindly at Luna, who returned the smile.

"I'm Luna Lovegood," Luna announced.

"Nice to meet you, Luna," said Cat. "Where are you from?"

"Oh…Ireland," Luna replied.

Lorraine sighed. "I've heard its beautiful there. Is it?"

"Yes, very lovely," Luna said, wanting to change the subject.

"What classes are you taking?" Tristy asked quietly.

Relieved, Luna listed off her classes. "I'm supposed to get my schedule tomorrow morning."

"Oh, good, I hope we have some classes together," Cat said.

Luna smiled, and was about to reply, when Lucinda interrupted, saying, "Can't we all continue this conversation tomorrow? I'm very tired, and we have to get up in the morning." She looked around at them all, with a fake smile.

The other girls said nothing, and Cat downright scowled at her, but Luna just smiled in her way, and said, "You're right. I'm tired, too."

The girls all climbed into their beds (Luna after borrowing pajamas from Cat, saying her things hadn't arrived yet), and one by one turned off the lamps by their beds.

Luna played the day's events over in her mind as she curled up cat-like into her blankets. Everyone seemed nice enough, so that was good. _I especially like Cat. She's smart. Oh, and Tom. He seems very interesting, _she thought as she began to doze off. _I don't care what he says though, his name sounds familiar. I know I've heard it before. _But nothing seemed to come to her, and she was almost asleep before it did. She gasped, and sat bolt upright in her bed. She vaguely heard Lorraine mumble sleepily, "You all right, Luna?" but she didn't respond. _Tom Riddle! Harry told me…that boy was Lord Voldemort!_


	4. Unlucky Partners

**Into Your Gravity  
**Chapter Four: Unlucky Partners

* * *

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling is a fictional character. I'm the real owner of Harry Potter. No, really. Fine, I don't own Harry and company. (P.S. I only added that last bit because my dad's a lawyer and I therefore know that I should be terrified of them. Otherwise I would have continued trying to make you believe the load of tosh at the beginning.)

* * *

"_How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct."  
--Benjamin Disraeli_

* * *

When Luna woke up the following morning, after a night of rather fitful sleep, she stretched leisurely in her bed, not wanting to move.

"Oi! Luna! Get up! We're going miss breakfast!" came Cat's voice, and her well-tossed pillow landed in Luna's face.

Not used to this kind of treatment, Luna sat up, looking back and forth between the pillow and her roommate. "Are you being mean to me?" she implored, her eyes huge.

Cat stopped halfway through yanking on her school robes. "What? No, of course not!"

Relieved, Luna smiled, and threw the pillow back to Cat's bed. She stood up and stretched again, noticing that all the other girls had already left. She looked around, and noticed that, as promised, a trunk was at the foot of her bed, and her class schedule rested on her bedside table. She went to her new trunk and opened it. For a moment she stared at the clothes, which were nearly identical to the ones she had packed in her own trunk. Then remembering she was supposed to be hurrying, she happily pulled on an absurdly colorful outfit, as well as her robes. She hastily grabbed her wand out of the pocket of her skirt from the day before. _At least I still have this, _she thought happily. She stuffed her class schedule into her pocket before being dragged from the dormitory by Cat. As they rushed down the stairs and out of the common room, Luna habitually tucked her wand behind her ear.

They rushed into the Great Hall and plopped down next to Lorraine and Tristy. Lucinda was farther down the table, with a group of similarly pretty girls, surrounded by admiring boys.

Luna shoveled her food into her mouth, and nearly choked when Lorraine asked, "What class do you have first, Luna?"

Luna hadn't even looked over her schedule yet, so she simply took it out of her pocket, and handed the slightly crumpled piece of parchment across the table to Lorraine.

"Hmm…all your classes today are with us. Charms, and then double Potions with the Slytherins. Tomorrow you've got Care of Magical Creatures with Tristy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with all of us again. Wednesday you've got all your classes with us again: History of Magic and Herbology. Thursday you've got Transfiguration and a free period – lucky. Then on Friday you've got Ancient Runes with Cat and me, and – oooh, you're taking Arithmancy? I'm afraid you'll be on your own in that one."

"Ew, you're taking Arithmancy? Why?" Cat asked. "It's so tedious!"

"Oh, I find it fascinating!" Luna said earnestly.

"Right. You're weirder than we thought," Cat said, earning a look from Tristy. "Just kidding, of course, Luna."

"Oh, I don't mind. Back home, I get made fun of all the time," Luna replied carelessly, making the other girls feel rather uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Lorraine shot up from her seat, and cried, "Look at the time! We're going to be late!" She hurried out of the Great Hall, with the other three in tow.

They reached the Charms classroom with only a few minutes to spare. Luna looked in amusement at a very much younger Professor Flitwick. He hurried over to her, saying in his squeaky voice, "Oh, you must be the new student! Miss Lovegood, am I right?"

Luna nodded, and smiled at the endearing man.

"Well, well, take a seat then and let's begin!" he cried in excitement.

Charms class was rather uneventful, though Flitwick was impressed with Luna's skills. When, on her first try, she conjured a perfect Patronus, in the form of a silver hare, Flitwick squealed with delight.

"Very good, Miss Lovegood, very good!" he beamed. She decided to not tell him that she had been doing the Patronus Charm for a couple of years, thanks to Harry and the D.A.

After Charms, they headed back to the Great Hall for lunch. Luna got to talking about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks once again, to the bafflement and amusement of her new friends. Luna, as usual, did not notice, and continued telling them about the creatures for a good fifteen minutes before she was finally interrupted by Cat apparently choking on a bit of her sandwich.

After lunch, Lorraine, Cat, Tristy, and Luna headed out of the Great Hall once again to go outside for a while before Potions. Halfway through the entrance hall, Lucinda caught up with them. "Hello," she said, looking over Luna. "You look much better today."

Taking this as a compliment, Luna said, "Thank you!"

Cat scowled at Lucinda, but the girl followed them out into the sunshine. The five girls collapsed under a tree and chattered idly for a while. Suddenly, Luna began to get the feeling that she was being watched. She looked around, but saw no one. She returned to the conversation, but the feeling didn't go away. She looked around again, and this time caught sight of Tom Riddle sitting on the steps of the castle with some of his friends, and he was most definitely watching her. She felt herself stop breathing. She had completely forgotten about him.

"What's the matter, Luna?" asked Tristy gently.

Luna tore her lamp-like eyes away from Riddle, and turned back to the girls. "That boy, Tom Riddle…he's watching me," she said faintly.

Quite to Luna's surprise, Lucinda and Lorraine squealed, and even Cat and Tristy blushed. "Ooh, he's so good-looking!" Lucinda said dreamily.

Cat, regaining her composure, said, "Yes, too bad he's absolutely rotten and in Slytherin. Seriously, Luna, what's wrong?"

Luna had sat staring at them through this little exchange, gaping at them with her mouth open. What was she supposed to say? _Oh, well, he is rotten, you see, because I come from the future and he becomes the most evil Dark wizard of all time? _No, she could definitely not say that. Instead, she muttered, "I – I'm just not used to having boys watch me."

_Hey, Lovegood, you're going to have to get better at acting, you know. They're already looking at you like you're weird, even more so than usual. They aren't stupid. They'll figure out something's up if you don't get it together. _Mentally shaking herself, Luna regained her dreamy smile and gazed at them.

The other girls shrugged off her strange behavior, with only Lucinda muttering, "If I caught Tom staring at me, I wouldn't get upset about it."

* * *

Tom scowled and looked away when he saw all the girls turn to look at him. They probably thought that he was staring at the new girl because he thought she was good-looking. No, no, in reality he was trying to measure how much of a threat she would be. For some reason, thoughts of her kept him up late into the night, and even when he did finally drift off to sleep, he had strange dreams into which this new girl was always incorporated. It would all be jolly well and fine if he knew _why_ she was bothering him so much, because then he could fix it. But he didn't. He had the feeling that she was very important for some reason. He had never experienced precognition, exactly, but this felt something like it. And just now, when she had looked at him from across the grounds, she had seemed to know him. _That's impossible. Maybe her nuttiness is rubbing off on me. Better steer clear._

A voice near him disrupted him from his thoughts. "Riddle? Are you listening?"

Tom shifted his gaze to the boy who was speaking. He sneered at Abraxas Malfoy. The boy was a year older than Tom, in seventh year, but Tom still had undeniable power over the older boy, just as he did with most of the Slytherins, through various forms of manipulation, bullying, and threats. "No, I'm not, Malfoy. Tired of listening to you babbling like an enormous prat."

Something that looked like anger flashed behind Malfoy's eyes, but it was quickly hidden or stifled, and he said nothing.

Tom stood to his feet and swept away from Malfoy and the other young men, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he headed for Potions. The other boys followed in his wake, and Tom saw that weird new girl with her friends out of the corner of his eye. This put him in an even sourer mood, realizing that he had Potions with the Ravenclaws, meaning that this girl would undoubtedly be there.

His fears were confirmed when the girl and her friends followed him into the dungeon classroom. He was pleased, however, when they sat themselves on the opposite side of the room as he did. He threw his bag down onto the table with a slam, just as Professor Slughorn entered.

"Hey, there, Tom, be careful with my furniture!" Slughorn said cheerfully.

"Oh, sorry, sir, I'm just having a bad day," Tom said sycophantically to the rotund man before him.

"Ah, that's all right, Tom. Happens to the best of us." He spared Tom a wink before going to the front of the classroom. Addressing the class, he said, "Now, I believe we have a new student with us! A Miss…" he glanced at a slip of parchment, "Miss Lovegood! Where are you, Miss Lovegood?"

* * *

Luna raised her hand in the air, gazing at Slughorn, with her eyes slightly out of focus. She recalled the time Harry took her to the "Slug Club" Christmas party fondly. She wondered if he still had them. Or rather, had them this far back.

"Ah, yes! Hello, there!" Slughorn cried jovially. "I trust you will all make our new student feel welcome!" Nearly all the Slytherins and even quite a few Ravenclaws snickered behind their hands. Luna distinctly heard a girl stage whisper to her friend, "Look at her! She's a freak!" Luna was used to being ostracized, but her face still fell.

Slughorn apparently had noticed none of this, and continued, "Today we will begin work on Veritaserum. It's a very complicated potion that we usually undertake in seventh year, but I am so pleased with this class that I think you'll do just fine. We're going to pair up now, and you will remain with this partner throughout the brewing of the Veritaserum Potion, which will take a full moon-cycle."

There was a sudden rush for everyone to pair up with someone they wanted to work with. Lorraine and Tristy quickly paired off, and Cat was about to claim Luna, when Slughorn swept over. "Miss Lovegood, I am quite sure you are adept at potion making. However, being a new student, I'm sure you have plenty on your mind this first month, so I'd like to pair you with my most advanced student to ease your workload," he said smiling.

"Oh, that's very kind of you," Luna said, looking around to see who he might mean, as Cat begrudgingly paired up with Lucinda.

"This way, this way," Slughorn responded, moving away and motioning for her to follow him. "Mr. Nott, please find another partner, I'd like Tom to work with Miss Lovegood here." Nott sneered at Luna before gathering his books and moving back to work with someone else. "There you are, Miss Lovegood! This is Tom Riddle! Best in my classes, even better than my seventh years!"

Luna could feel her nose crinkling the way it did when she was displeased. "Oh, sir, I'm sure Tom would rather work with his friend, and I can just work with Cat."

"Nonsense! Tom will be happy to help you, won't you Tom?" Slughorn said with a wave of his hand.

"Of course, sir," Tom said, the picture of a student eager to please his teacher.

"Wonderful!" Slughorn cried, before sweeping away to his desk.

As soon as his back was turned, the look of earnest fell from Tom's face and was replaced by his signature sneer. "Isn't that wonderful."

Luna narrowed her eyes. With a look of dislike that her features were completely not used to, she said, "Well, at least the feeling's mutual, then."

They worked in silence for the next few minutes preparing their potion ingredients, both of their minds buzzing. _How do these things always happen to me? _Luna wondered, chopping up her roots rather a bit more violently than necessary. _Now I'm sitting next to a young Lord Voldemort making a truth serum. I hope no one thinks to use it on me, or they'll get an earful. Marvelous, just marvelous._

* * *

Tom, too, was lost in thought. _Bloody hell, there goes the plan for just avoiding her, then. _He had seen every move she had made since she came into the room, and this only succeeded in making him more confused by her than ever, and confusion was not a feeling Tom Riddle was fond of. He had seen her tuck her wand behind her ear for safe-keeping. He had seen the way her face fell at the quiet mocking of her classmates. He had seen the way her nose wrinkled up at the thought of working with him. This was what bothered him most of all. _Why would she even care? Perhaps she caught on to my sarcasm last night and now she doesn't like me, but I don't think that's it. She seemed quite pleasant last night, and now it's as if I've done something unforgivable to her. But I can't have done anything to her, I don't even know her. And now I'm stuck with her for a least a month. And now she's mutilating her roots. Marvelous, just ruddy marvelous._


	5. Dumbledore's Advice

**Into Your Gravity  
**Chapter Five: Dumbledore's Advice

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Silly rabbit! Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling!

* * *

"_It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice."  
--Anne Tyler, Celestial Navigation_

* * *

After Potions, Luna was in a terrible mood for the rest of the day. Lucinda attempted to interrogate her about working with Tom, but Cat shushed her, pointing to the way Luna's eyebrows were furrowed in frustration.

The girls returned to Ravenclaw Tower. Luna plopped down in a comfy armchair by the fireplace and began on her Charms homework, with her legs curled up underneath her. She didn't notice her roommates signaling to each other behind her back, trying to get someone to be the first to talk to her.

Luna looked up from her work several minutes later, to see Cat gesturing silently to Lorraine. Cat didn't notice Luna's gaze until Lorraine cleared her throat awkwardly. Cat froze mid-gesture, then tried to pass it off for fixing her hair.

"What's going on?" Luna asked.

Cat coughed uncomfortably, avoiding Luna's huge eyes for a moment, until Lucinda broke in, saying, "Oh, honestly, you're all pathetic. Luna, we were just wondering what's wrong. You seem really upset."

Caught off guard, Luna cocked her head slightly and said, "Wondering what's wrong…?"

"Come off it, we are your friends now," Cat snapped.

The idea that these girls were, in fact, her friends had not occurred to Luna. "Oh! I've – well, I've never had many friends before!"

Cat huffed impatiently. "Well, now you've got a whole slew of us, so spill."

Tristy interrupted quietly, saying, "I think that all Cat's trying to say is that we're worried about you. You haven't said two words since Potions."

Luna smiled and felt the warm bubbles of happiness in her stomach. As she looked from face to face, she saw they really were worried about her, even Lucinda, though they had only known her a few short hours. She seriously considered telling them everything for a moment, but then remembered that Dumbledore had told her not to. After a moment, she shrugged, saying, "I'm all right. Well, I'm not right now, but I will be. Thank you for caring."

Tristy smiled warmly at Luna, and Lorraine patted her hand. Lucinda gave her a grin and a toss of her magnificent head. Cat stared at Luna for a few more moments, as though trying to decide whether or not to press her for information, but sighed eventually, and also smiled.

Luna returned to working on her Charms essay in a much better mood than she had previously been in. A while later the girls headed to dinner, the other four chatting animatedly, and Luna listening to them talk. After dinner, they worked a bit more on their homework, and then went to bed.

Safe in the warm blankets of her bed, Luna snuggled into her pillow. _I can do this, _she thought. _This won't be bad at all, even if I do have to work with Tom Riddle. Perhaps if I get to know him, I'll have something useful to tell Harry when I get back. _And with much more comforting thoughts like these, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next few days passed uneventfully for Luna, though she did notice Tom keeping an uncomfortably close eye on her. She thoroughly enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures, as usual, and since they were having lessons on thestrals she was even more pleased. She was the only one in her class who could see the thestrals, and the professor therefore had her demonstrate several things, which she enjoyed since she was so fond of the the creatures. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a breeze, thanks to Harry and the D.A.

History of Magic on Wednesday was with the Slytherins again, but Tom sat far away from her so the most that happened is that he scowled nastily at her when she cheerfully waved in his direction, and Herbology with the Hufflepuffs was fine.

Thursday brought Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, which she was looking forward to. Not only did Luna have a fondness for Gryffindors, but she was excited to see Professor Dumbledore teach. She was not disappointed: Dumbledore was an amazing teacher. The lesson was exciting and interesting, and Luna was thoroughly enraptured.

Dumbledore asked her to wait for a few minutes after class got out, so as the other students trickled out of the classroom, Luna signaled to her friends to go ahead while she remained behind.

"How is everything going for you, Miss Lovegood?" he asked, after pouring her a cup of tea and seating himself behind his desk.

"Oh, really well," she said in a dreamy voice. "I'm really enjoying myself here."

"Wonderful. And I hope the wardrobe I conjured up for you was satisfactory?" His eyes lingered on the collar of her shirt poking out from underneath her robes that looked suspiciously like a rainbow-striped sweater.

Nodding enthusiastically, Luna said, "Yes, it's almost like I picked them out myself."

Dumbledore smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. "I'm very pleased to hear that you doing well. I regret to inform you, however, that I have not as yet made any progress on the puzzling problem of how to return you to your own time."

"That's understandable," she said in an airy voice. "You've only had a few days."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, before saying, "If I may say so, you are quite an extraordinary witch, Miss Lovegood. I believe your ability to believe in something based on faith alone is a rare gift, and it just may come in handy during your stay here. Perhaps you might use this gift with someone who needs it more than anything else."

Puzzled, Luna asked, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I'm just a codgery old fool, don't mind me," he said cheerfully. "Now its time for lunch!"

Luna left his room with the distinct impression that Dumbledore knew more than he was letting on, but tried to dismiss it.

After lunch, Cat and Lucinda had Divination, while Lorraine and Tristy had Muggle Studies. Luna was left alone during her free period, so with a lack of anything better to do, she drifted to the library to do some reading for her D.A.D.A. essay that was due next class period.

* * *

Tom was holed up in the library when she came in. He peered at her over the top of the large book he was reading. He raised his eyebrows as she began to twirl aimlessly for a minute before seemingly remembering that she had come to the library for a reason, and she flounced over to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section, took several books off the shelves, and sat down at a table in the corner to read.

Instantly in a worse mood, Tom returned to his book, lifting it just high enough to hide his face from her. He propped his feet up on the table in front of him and relaxed back into his chair.

He read in silence for several minutes, but his peace didn't last long. Suddenly, a hand reached out and snatched the book from his grip, and the offender sat down calmly across the table from him as though coming for tea. Tom gave one of his most venomous scowls before sweeping his legs off the table and leaning forward in his chair to speak.


	6. A Long Talk and a Long Walk

**Disclaimer:** You're a Seer. You can predict what I'm going to say here.

* * *

"_Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…it has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."  
--C.S. Lewis_

* * *

**Chapter Five: A Long Talk and a Long Walk**

Tom leaned forward menacingly across the table and opened his mouth to begin to reprimand the girl, but she cut him off.

"I want to be your friend," she said simply.

Tom stared at her, his mouth hanging open, until she said, "That's not a very good look for you, you know." He snapped his mouth shut and inspected her face, trying to see if she was mocking him, but she seemed to just be being honest. He narrowed his eyes at her, as though determined to find some ulterior motive in her approaching him, but her huge eyes said nothing.

"What do you want?" he finally snapped.

She cocked her head, genuinely confused. "I already told you. I want to be your friend."

He snorted. "I don't need your friendship."

"Well, nobody _needs_ friendship, do they?" she said.

"First smart thing you've said," he muttered. He was trying to get a rise out of her, but she just continued to stare at him with imploring eyes, her head tilted slightly, and her wand sticking out of her hair from behind her ear. He stared back at her, trying to get her to break his gaze, but she wouldn't do it, and finally the uncomfortable feeling that her gaze gave him won and he looked away.

"I just want to be your friend. I think you could use one."

Rage boiled in the pit of his stomach. "And what would I do with a friend, particularly one like you?" he spat.

"Talk," she replied.

He finally stood up from his seat, went around the table and leaned into her. "Look, Lovegood, I don't want to be your friend. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want anything to do with you. You're insane, and stupid too, by the looks of it. Just get away from me before I have to make you." He was breathing heavily.

She blinked, and he realized that this was the first time she had done so. _Great, she doesn't even blink as much as a normal person, _he thought wildly.

She returned his gaze for what felt to him like an eternity, before standing suddenly from her chair, causing him to step backwards. She looked at him another moment before saying, "Fine." She turned on her heel, causing her long hair to twirl around her, and left the library.

Royally angry, Tom stalked out of the library after her, seriously considering going after her just to yell at her. He stopped when he saw her blonde hair flip around the corner, and, fighting the urge to catch up to her, he instead turned the opposite way and stormed down to the Slytherin common room.

* * *

Luna sat down in an armchair in the Ravenclaw common room and pulled her Defense Against the Dark Arts work out of her bag. She worked on it in silence for almost ten minutes before putting it down in a huff, realizing she couldn't get any serious work done right now.

She mulled over her encounter with Tom Riddle in her mind. _Well, it was about what I expected, _she thought mildly. _And I know I got to him. It was all over his face._

When she had entered the library, she had spun on the spot a few times, and then proceeded to pull several books off the shelves. She had settled into her table with them before she noticed the boy across the library from her. Even though he had his book in front of his face, it was quite clear who it was. Everything about his arrogant posture reeked of Tom Riddle.

Luna had rolled her eyes, wishing that she could just finish him off right now. This thought surprised her. _I've never even considered killing before! What's happening to me? _she had wondered.

However, she knew that though she had never felt this feeling before, this feeling that felt an awful lot like what she had heard about hate, she really couldn't blame herself. He was going to grow up to be Lord Voldemort, after all, and he was already a foul person. He would, in a few decades, destroy the lives of the few people she counted among her friends, particularly Harry's and Neville's. It was because of this boy who was sitting in the library with her that two of the people who she could count on would never have parents, and would never be the same. It was because of this boy that thousands of brave witches and wizards would die. And here she was, reading a book only a few yards away from him.

She was disgusted with herself for the first time in her life. _I really could just kill him right now. I really could. Except that I know I never would be able to. I know it; I just wouldn't be able to do it. _

She was growing angrier with herself by the second. Her thoughts shifted to Professor Dumbledore. _He as much as said that I shouldn't meddle with the past, anyway. He said that if I even spoke of the future, I might make a right mess of things. But maybe if he knew... _But she knew Dumbledore better than this. Even if she told him what was to come, he would never want her to alter time. _Well, maybe he is just a codgery old fool, then, _she thought, angry at herself as soon as the thought crossed her mind, but continuing on fiercely anyway. _He said it himself, after he went off on how I was an extraordinary witch and all that nonsense. Honestly, what gift is it to be the way I am? What has it ever done for me? Its not that I'm trying to be noble or something, I just can't help believing in people, and in the things I believe. And how on earth is something like that "gift" going to help anyone in the past – oh! _

A look of comprehension passed over her face. _Did Dumbledore mean…Riddle? How could he? I mean, I know he doesn't trust Riddle, Harry told me he never did, and he's right, but even then…? Does he really want me to try and help Tom Riddle? _With that, she knew it was true. Dumbledore's advice, though it had come encrypted as always, finally made perfect sense. For a moment she was very excited, having figured out what Dumbledore wanted of her…and then she realized just want he wanted of her.

_No way, I'm not going to go around pretending to be nice to Voldemort. I can put up with a lot, but that is not something I'm willing to do. If only I could tell Dumbledore that he's asking so much more of me than just befriending a troubled boy! If only I could tell him that he's asking me to befriend the man that will kill and hurt and destroy so much! _Luna let her head fall to the table, her forehead hitting it with a thump. Ignoring the dull pain that started there, she rested like that for several minutes. Finally, she sighed deeply. _I might as well give it a try. I'm stuck in the past, anyway. _And with this thought, she had gotten up, strode over to Tom, plucked the book from his hands, and sat down across from him.

Now, she was sitting in her common room, almost wondering why she had even bothered. Her optimism perhaps did not extend so far as to think that she could make a difference in Tom Riddle's life. However, she knew it was what Dumbledore wanted, and, as she kept reminding herself, if I get to know the young Voldemort, I might be able to help Harry defeat him.

Luna did not hear people beginning to enter the common room after class got out, and remained staring off into space with a glazed look right up until Cat snapped her fingers right in her face. Instead of jumping, like most people would, Luna merely blinked, and shifted her gaze to the black haired girl.

"You're starting to make us worry again, Lovegood," Cat said in a would-be-tough voice. "You've been sitting like that for a good fifteen minutes and you haven't moved."

Luna looked around, and saw Lorraine and Tristy hovering behind Cat looking nearly distraught. She smiled at all of them, and asked, "Where's Lucinda?"

Cat huffed, as though Luna owed her an explanation to her strange behavior, but replied, "She's off with some boy. Probably snogging. She left with him right after Divination."

"Oh, that's nice," Luna said pleasantly.

Staring at her, trying once again to figure her out, Cat finally said, "Well, it's nearly time for dinner. Shall we head down?"

Nodding, Luna stood and joined the other girls as they exited the common room, and made their way down to the Great Hall.

* * *

Tom had been in a terrible mood for the rest of the day, and even the few people who considered themselves to be his friends stayed out of his way when they saw the glint in his eye. He seated himself at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall and loosened his robes. He always felt distinctly warmer when he was angry.

He had begun pounding food onto his plate, causing those seated near him to edge away fearfully, when Luna entered the Great Hall. Feeling her presence more that actually knowing she had come in, he looked up to see her gazing at him as she walked past the Slytherin table. As their eyes met, Tom had the now familiar feeling that she knew him and knew quite a bit more about him than he would have liked, and that every second they held their gaze she learned even more. Unable to tear his own eyes away, he had to wait until she finally flipped her head around and sat down at the Ravenclaw table with her back to him.

Now furious with himself for not being able to look away, as well as with her, he began to cut his steak so viciously that his knife made unpleasant grating sounds on the plate. He ate as quickly as possible and stormed out of the Great Hall.

He briefly considered going to the Slytherin common room, but decided against it, and instead went outside to sit near the lake and think. He breathed deeply as he stepped outside into the twilight. He could still see the sun on the horizon. He walked directly past the spot where the Whomping Willow would be planted in several years' time, though he didn't know it, and plopped himself down by the edge of the lake.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but by the time he focused his gaze again, the night had completely fallen and the stars were twinkling merrily from the black expanse above him. He stood up, dusted himself off, and began to walk back to the castle. He was about halfway there when the doors to the castle opened and a small silhouette framed in the light pouring from the entrance hall. He froze. The girl, however, did not see him, and she began to walk down towards the Forbidden Forest. _She's not walking, _Tom thought suddenly. _She's drifting._

Realizing who it was, Tom made a face as though he had just tasted something extremely unpleasant. Silently debating with himself for a moment whether he should use his prefect duties to give her detention or instead follow her wherever she was going, he eventually decided to follow her, and stealthily caught up to her so that he could follow her from a safe distance.

* * *

Luna kept moving towards the Forest. She loved the Forest, and though it was several decades younger now that it was when she had begun to explore it, she still knew it well. She quickly and quietly wove in and out of the trees, and did not stop until she was quite deep in the forest. She ceased moving in the middle of a quiet clearing, having found what she wanted. She wondered briefly if she would still find them here, but a moment later a baby thestral moved out from behind a tree and approached her.

Pleased, Luna gently patted the colt's head, and a few moments later other thestrals began to appear out of the shadows. They surrounded her, nuzzling her and fighting for her attention, which she gladly gave them. She reached into her pocket and pulled out several steaks that she had stolen from dinner and fed each of them a little bit.

* * *

Tom, who was crouched behind a tree, was amazed. She was even crazier than he'd thought. She had snuck out just to have a rendezvous with the sickly, skeletal horses that pulled the carriages to the school? Tom could see them as well, having been present when his basilisk killed that Mudblood Myrtle at the end of last year, and he'd had quite enough of them from Care of Magical Creatures, since the teacher made him do all sorts of things with them to demonstrate for the class. Though he never would have admitted it, thestrals slightly gave him the creeps. He didn't like the way their skin looked like it was clinging to nothing more than bone. He didn't like the way their red eyes watched him when he approached. He didn't like the way they didn't trust him, how they always stamped their hooves angrily before letting him come near them. And yet, here was this girl, who was nothing…a waif, a child, an innocent little girl, and she was not bothered by them at all. She seemed downright fond of them, and they seemed to return this sentiment.

He probably would have sat there staring for several minutes, but he was startled out of silence, when the girl suddenly said, "Oh, Tom, I know you're there."

He gave a strangled yell of shock, and immediately cursed himself for having let himself be caught off guard. He prided himself on always being cool and collected. He remained frozen for a moment before squaring his shoulders and striding into the clearing.

"What do you think you're doing? I could give you detention for the rest of the term," he said fiercely.

Luna looked up at him, and with her pale skin and eyes catching the moonlight, Tom thought wildly for a moment that she looked lovely, almost ethereal. Mentally shaking himself, he said, "I should, in fact."

"Why did you follow me?" she asked quietly. "If you'd told me you wanted to come, I would've brought you. You didn't have to go sneaking around behind me."

"I didn't want to come. I wanted to catch you doing whatever you were doing, which, it turns out, was breaking several school rules," he snarled.

She smiled dreamily. "I can tell when people are being dishonest, too, Tom."

Feeling the familiar feeling of anger in the pit of his stomach, he snapped, "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You didn't follow me to get me into trouble, I know that much." She stared at him, unblinkingly.

"Why else would I follow you?" he spat. She still hadn't blinked.

"Just because you were curious." She still hadn't blinked.

"I wasn't curious." Still no blinking.

Luna opened her mouth to reply, when Tom said loudly, "Blink, already!"

"What?" she asked, cocking her head the way she did when she was confused.

Furious with himself for yet again losing his cool, he muttered, "You need to blink."

"Oh. Okay." She blinked very pointedly for him.

* * *

Just as she performed her blink for Tom, Luna noticed that the thestrals had all moved so that they were in between her and Tom, as though protecting her. Several of them snorted and began to stamp the ground when he raised his voice at her. Luna watched his eyes flicker to them, and though his look of maddening superiority never left his face, she thought she saw him shift uncomfortably.

She forced herself to not giggle. _Lord Voldemort doesn't like thestrals and thestrals don't like him._ Out loud, she said, "Would you like to pet one?"

"Why would I want to pet a vile thing like that?" he said.

Luna, patting a male thestral who was getting very upset, replied, "They aren't vile at all. They're quite gentle. Here." She offered him her hand, and stood gazing at him, waiting for him to take it.

Tom stared at her hand for several moments, and moved forward but did not take it, instead brushing it aside. Luna didn't mind this, instead only happy that he had come to her. "Here," she said calmly, leading him to the baby thestral. "The young ones are more trusting."

Ignoring a disgruntled whinny from what was undoubtedly the colt's mother, Tom reached out and awkwardly patted the colt's head, who closed his eyes, apparently enjoying it.

Luna took a step back and observed the scene she had created, and couldn't help but smile.


	7. Stay Away

A/N: To answer a question, no, I don't have this written already. I'm pulling chapters out of my ass like a fiend, but only because if I leave this garbage locked in my head too long it ends up very ugly.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** secret loooverrrs that's what we are

* * *

_"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Just Stay Away**

Luna and Tom walked up to the school in silence. He walked her to the entrance to her common room, saying that it was to make sure she didn't wander off again, but in reality they both knew that he didn't quite want to leave yet.

They stopped outside the common room. Tom opened his mouth to say something, but Luna shushed him, smiled, and disappeared into the Ravenclaw common room.

Luna climbed up the stairs to her dormitory, entering quietly so she didn't wake her roommates. She climbed into her bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Tom, on the other hand, walked slowly down to the Slytherin common room and spent a good hour sitting in silence on the emerald colored couch. _What the hell was that? _He was lost in thought until the fire in the grate had diminished to glowing embers, when he stood up, muttering, "She better not think we're friends now." He finally retired to his dormitory and fell onto his bed fully-clothed, though he lay awake for some time.

* * *

Luna awoke early the following Friday morning feeling refreshed even though she had stayed up later than usual. She swung her feet off the bed, and got up. She showered, putting her hair into a single long braid, and got dressed, then left the common room, heading down to breakfast early.

She padded down the stairs quietly, and inhaled deeply as she neared the Great Hall and the smells of food drifting out. She was one of the first to arrive at breakfast, so she sat by herself at the Ravenclaw table and spread marmalade onto toast. She ate silently, even as the table began to fill up around her, preferring to watch people rather than participate in their conversations. She only spoke when Cat, looking very groggy, plopped down in the seat next to her, muttering something about how it should be illegal to hold school on Friday mornings.

"Good morning," Luna said pleasantly.

"Ha ha, very funny, Luna," Cat replied bitterly, rubbing her eyes vigorously as though this might make her wake up more.

Luna took a piece of toast and some orange marmalade, spread the marmalade on the toast and, handing it to Cat, said, "Here, eat something."

Cat took the piece of toast gratefully and took a large bite. "Thanks, Luna," she mumbled through a mouthful of food.

Lorraine joined them a few minutes later, looking extremely perky, causing Cat to scowl at her and bury her face into her goblet of orange juice.

"Ancient Runes and Arithmancy today, right Luna?" Lorraine asked cheerfully.

Luna nodded.

"Ugh, I hate Ancient R-r-runes," Cat said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

Lorraine pursed her lips at her. "Well, you're just a little ray of sunshine this morning, aren't you? Perhaps if you don't like it you shouldn't have signed up for it for another year."

Sticking her tongue out at Lorraine, Cat replied, "It's too early to be a ray of sunshine."

Luna watched this exchange with an amused expression on her face, when Lucinda threw herself into a seat across from Luna. She looked even more tired than Cat, with dark circles under her eyes, but she seemed cheerful enough.

"Are you happy because of the boy from yesterday?" Luna asked.

Lucinda, who had just taken a sip of orange juice, choked. She gaped at Luna. After deciding that Luna didn't mean anything malicious by the question, she said, "I suppose so."

"That's nice," Luna replied, smiling.

After breakfast, Luna, Cat, and Lorraine went to Ancient Runes. Luna told them as they sat down in the classroom that sometimes if you look at runes upside down, there are hidden spells in them. The two girls stared at her for only a moment, before shaking their heads slightly and turning to face the front of the room, where the professor had just appeared.

The class went by fairly quickly for Luna, who insisted on turning all her runes upside down. After the class was over, the girls headed back to the Great Hall for lunch, before separating once again. Luna went on her way to Arithmancy, while the others went to their classes.

As Luna settled herself down in the Arithmancy classroom, Tom Riddle walked in.

* * *

When he saw her, he had to fight the urge to simply turn on his heel and leave. Knowing that skipping class wouldn't help him get the Head Boy badge he so coveted, he forced himself to keep walking into the classroom and sit.

He hoped she hadn't seen him come in, and indeed, she didn't appear to notice. The professor walked in at that moment and began class. Tom had a brief hope that he would be able to escape this class without talking to her. He stood quickly at the end of the class and tried to hurry out of the room. He thought he had made it when he heard a dreamy voice drift from behind him.

"Tom?"

He cringed, and turned. "What do _you_ want?"

Luna looked taken aback by his behavior and said, "Well, I just…I just wanted to talk to you."

He grabbed her roughly by the wrist and dragged her into an empty classroom, slamming the door behind him. "What happened last night was weird, all right? Its never going to happen again, and I'm not your friend, so don't go off getting the idea that I like you or something. Just stay away from me." He had avoided her gaze thus far, but now he looked into her eyes and instantly wished he hadn't. Her eyes were even larger than usual, and were full of questions and a little bit of what looked horribly like hurt.

_Why do I give a damn if I hurt her feelings? I've never given a damn about anybody, _he thought angrily.

Completely calm, she said, "I know." She turned around and left him alone in the classroom and feeling utterly foolish.

_What am I supposed to do? _he thought furiously. Luna made Tom Riddle feel unprotected, small, weak, and predictable, all of which were feelings Tom Riddle hated. Shaking his head, he justified his actions with this excuse, and left the classroom.

* * *

As Luna made her way through the corridors to the Ravenclaw common room, she thought about what he had said. _"I'm not your friend...just stay away." Well, what did I expect? He is Voldemort, after all. _Shrugging his outburst off, she decided she would only try harder. 


	8. Blibbering Humdingers

**Disclaimer:** I own an army of rabid, flesh-eating gerbils.

* * *

"_But you're neither friend nor foe  
__Though I can't seem to let you go  
__The one thing that I still know  
__Is that you're keeping me down"  
--Sara Bareilles_

* * *

As September faded into October, Tom avoided Luna Lovegood as though she had a fatal communicable disease. In Potions, when he couldn't escape her, she chattered on about a load of nonsense, apparently not noticing that he wasn't participating in the conversation. In History of Magic and Arithmancy, he sat as far away from her as possible and did not reply when she called his name.

In the second week of October was the students' first Hogsmeade visit. Tom was relieved, glad to escape the castle, which was beginning to feel unreasonably smaller by the day. The day of the Hogsmeade visit, he left the castle grounds without spotting Luna. He, Malfoy, and Nott proceeded into The Three Broomsticks, which was already crowded, and ordered three butterbeers. They settled into their table, enjoying the warmth of the pub.

All was going swimmingly until the bell over the door tinkled and Luna walked in alone. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, as the wind was blowing outside, and since she was not wearing her school robes, her polka-dotted orange blouse and violently pink skirt were clearly visible to everyone around her. Tom saw her and groaned, scowling as he realized that she had even worn her purple stockings.

"What is it?" Malfoy asked, as Tom attempted to shrink down, wishing that he could simply merge with his chair. Malfoy and Nott followed Tom's gaze. "She still bothering you, Riddle?"

"We could just scare her off, you know," Nott said, clearly disappointed with Tom's lack of animosity toward the girl.

Tom shook his head, and shot Nott a look that made him shut his mouth when he opened it to question why.

Tom was extremely annoyed when Luna came over, looking as though she had ended up there by mistake, and sat herself down next to Tom. "Hello, Tom," she said.

"Beat it, Lovegood. You may be a pureblood, but you're a blood traitor for hanging around with that Mudblood Litner," Malfoy snarled.

Tom watched in amusement as Luna crinkled her nose. Knowing what was coming, he leaned back in his chair to watch.

"Cat is better than you'll ever be," she said, her voice soft.

Malfoy leaned into her, his face only inches from hers, and whispered, "She's a Mudblood, and you're hardly any better."

Less than a second later, Luna had reached up and slapped Malfoy across the face – hard. Looking aghast, Malfoy fell out of his seat and landed on the floor with a thump. Luna looked mildly shocked at what she had done. Tom's eyebrows were raised and his eyes said that he was being thoroughly entertained.

Regaining himself, Malfoy stood up. "How dare you. If I wanted to, I could kill you," he said furiously.

Suddenly realizing that most of the pub was watching now, Tom interrupted. "No, you won't Malfoy."

Malfoy rounded on Tom. "Who are you to say what I won't do, Riddle?"

Tom felt his eyes burn, and Malfoy took a startled step back. "I mean…I just meant…."

"Shut it, Malfoy, and get out of my sight," Tom said, his voice dangerously low. "You too, Nott," he said before the other boy could speak. The two young men hesitated for only a moment, but left quickly after glimpsing Tom's glare. They shuffled out of the pub looking rather like kicked puppies.

"What are you all staring at?" Tom snapped at the onlookers. Everyone in the pub quickly returned to what they were doing so as to not evoke his wrath upon them.

* * *

Luna watched Tom with wide eyes. She had never seen him so much like Voldemort before. For a few moments, he was almost nothing like the handsome young man that was Tom Riddle. For a few moments, his dark blue eyes had burned red, and a look passed across his face that was so reminiscent of Lord Voldemort that Luna was severely tempted to just run away. 

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, she watched as his features relaxed back into their usual smugness. "You didn't have to do that," she said.

"I didn't do it for you. I don't like being spoken to that way," he snapped. "So why are you here? Can't I enjoy my Hogsmeade weekend in peace?"

"You've been avoiding me." It wasn't a question.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe you aren't stupid."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Tom occasionally sipping his butterbeer. Finally, Luna said, "Have you ever heard of a Blibbering Humdinger?"

Tom froze with his mug halfway to his mouth and stared at her. "Are you serious?"

She nodded pleasantly.

Tom snorted, put his mug back down on the table, and said, "They don't exist."

Luna felt her nose crinkling again. It seemed to be doing a lot more of that lately. "They most certainly do."

"No, they don't. They're made up."

Luna huffed. "Just because you have faith the size of a pinhead doesn't mean they don't exist."

"Lovegood, they don't exist. Honestly, I take back what I said about you not being stupid," Tom said, sniggering.

"Fine," she said. She stood up, and left the pub in a huff.

* * *

Tom watched after her, watched her until her purple stockings were lost in the crowd of people, and smiled to himself before draining the rest of his butterbeer and rising to follow her. 

He didn't see her at first, but then spotted her walking up the road back to the school. He pushed through the crowd and caught up with her. "Bloody hell, Lovegood, you just about lost it."

She didn't say anything. "Lovegood. Hey, Lovegood." He grabbed her arm and spun her to look at him, annoyed. "Don't ignore me."

Her face was stubborn, and her eyes huge. "I am not one of your stupid little followers, Tom Riddle, and I won't do whatever you tell me to do," she said quietly.

Startled, he released her, and she turned on her heel and kept walking. After a few moments, he hurried to catch up to her again. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Luna glanced at him sideways. "You know what that means."

They walked in silence until they were almost to the doors of the castle, when Tom once again stopped her. "Okay, let me get this straight. I call you stupid, I call you crazy, I'm rude to you and your friends, I completely ignore you, and the only time you get worked up at me is when I say I don't believe in Blibbering Humdingers?"

She paused for a moment, considering, then nodded and said, "Basically."

"You're a freak, Lovegood."

Luna looked at him placidly. "Why are you following me? Again?"

He scowled. "Because you're a nutter and I'm interested in what's the matter with you." He searched her eyes to see if she believed him, but when it became clear that she did not, he reverted back to trying to keep her away. "Fine, you want me to leave you alone, and I want you to leave me alone, so let's just do that," he snarled.

He stalked away from her and headed towards the Slytherin common room. When an unlucky first year accidentally bumped into him in the corridor, he shouted at him and took fifteen points from his house. The young boy skittered away, looking terrified.

As Tom entered the dungeon common room, he furiously kicked a pillow that was lying on the floor, sending it into the flames of the fire. He watched it burn, and thought to himself. _I'm losing it. What is it with her? I can't get rid of her. All I know is that she's trouble._


	9. A Strange New Feeling

**Disclaimer:** Did you know that over 10,000 birds a year die from smashing into windows?

* * *

"_Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven't time – and to see takes time."  
--Georgia O'Keefe_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Strange New Feeling**

The rest of October went by quickly, as did November. Tom and Luna continued much in the same pattern: she wheedled her way into his life slowly only to be shoved unceremoniously back out; he did everything he could to get her upset; and a constant banter went back and forth between them.

Cat had heard the story of Luna slapping Malfoy, and ever since then she had taken it upon herself to protect Luna. Whenever someone began to mock her, Cat would say loudly how she had finally mastered that Bat Bogey Hex she had been working on.

As Christmas grew nearer, decorations flew up around the castle. The suits of armor were enchanted to sing Christmas carols (though they often forgot most of the words), fairy lights and Christmas trees were everywhere, and Peeves had decided it was his duty to carry around mistletoe and harass random students until they kissed or managed to get away.

The Heads of Houses went around to their students as usual and collected the names of those staying behind over the holiday break. Luna immediately signed up, since she had no place to go, though she was one of very few. All the girls in her dormitory were going home for the holidays, and though Luna had gotten used to having friends, she was looking forward to being alone for a few days.

Once break had begun and Luna was on her own most of the time, she buried herself in books at the library. Ever since Tom had insisted that Blibbering Humdingers were not real, she was determined to find a clear reference to one to prove him wrong. So far all she had managed to find was an account of Edric the Weird's campaign to have the Humdinger a recognized species, and something told her that Tom would not believe Edric the Weird anymore than he believed her.

It was one such time that she was in the library when Tom himself strutted in. Seeing her, he walked to her table and sat himself down. "What are you doing here over break, Lovegood?"

"I didn't want to go home," she replied without looking up from her book.

"Why not? Don't you have an exciting new house or something like that?"

She closed the book and looked at him. "I just didn't want to go."

He rolled his eyes. "Lovegood, I can still tell when you're lying."

"Why aren't you home for the holidays then?"

His smug demeanor immediately disappeared. "Hogwarts is my home."

Thinking back to everything Harry had told her, she said, "Oh, that's right, you're from the orphanage aren't you?"

He glared at her. "What do you know about that?"

"I…I just heard it around school," she said.

"Stop lying to me!" he said, clearly annoyed.

She gazed at him unwaveringly. "My mum's dead, too, you know."

Tom was utterly caught off guard. "I – uh, I didn't know that."

She nodded. "She was very interested in experimenting. She died in an accident when I was nine. That's why I can see the thestrals," she said as though speaking about the weather.

"Oh." Tom felt uncomfortable.

She shook her head. "I still feel sad sometimes, but I know I'll see her again. Someday."

Silence engulfed them once more, and Luna returned to her book.

* * *

A few days later, only a few short days until Christmas, they ran into each other in the hall, much like they did the first time they had met.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Luna said dreamily. "I wasn't paying attention."

Tom rolled his eyes. "You seem to never pay attention. Are you going to dinner?"

Luna nodded, and they walked together towards the Great Hall. The four house tables had vanished and had been replaced by a single table since there were so few students left behind. Tom sat next to Luna without really thinking about it, and they ate dinner in silence. Luna noticed Dumbledore give her a wink before they left the table again.

They wandered through the halls for a few minutes without talking, but they were interrupted by Peeves zooming down upon them. "Loony Lovegood and Perfect Prefect have to kiss! Mistletoe!" he screeched, and indeed he was dangling a bit of mistletoe in front of their noses.

Luna took a step back, muttering, "Nargles."

Tom shot her a quizzical look before turning back to Peeves. "Get lost, Peeves. We're not kissing."

"Oh, yes you are!" the poltergeist cried gleefully.

"I wonder where the Bloody Baron is," Tom mused in a nonchalant voice.

Peeves' impish grin fell from his face. "Fine, bratty brat, if you're going to be that way and make Peevesy have no fun at all." He threw the mistletoe at Tom's head, where it landed in his hair before rocketing away through the corridors, banging suits of armor as he went.

Tom was watching him, pleased with himself, when Luna rushed over and swept the mistletoe off of his head. "Ooh, you're going to get nargles in your hair, Tom!" she said.

Turning to face her, he asked, "What are nargles? Or do I even want to know?"

She opened her mouth as though about to tell him just what a nargle was exactly, but seemed to change her mind. She snapped her mouth shut and muttered, "No, you don't want to know."

"Stop it," he said, annoyed.

She gazed at him. "What's the point?"

He had never seen her like this before, and he had no idea what had caused it. She seemed unsure of herself, and almost broken. "What's the matter?"

"Don't pretend like you care about me, Tom. It's not nice." She turned away from him and began walking away.

"What, are you just being hormonal or what's your problem?" he called after her. She didn't turn around, so he caught up with her. "Lovegood!" He grabbed her arm.

She wrenched her arm out of his grip, saying, "Stop calling me Lovegood. I have a first name you know."

"What the hell? What's gotten into you?" he said, increasingly angry.

She rounded on him, and in her eyes was something he never expected: pure anger. "What's gotten into me? You've gotten into me! All I try to do is be your friend. I try to be nice, and you're rotten! You're foul and cruel and cold, and even when you're being halfway decent to me, you're horrible to my friends! You're - !"

He suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall, furious. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop this right now."

His breath felt hot on her face, and she observed the way his eyes bulged slightly with anger. She observed all of this, returning to her normal calm state, before saying, "What? Don't you like it when people are honest with you?"

He whipped out his wand and held it threateningly to her neck. "Don't be stupid, Lovegood," he growled.

She stared into his eyes for a few second before saying quite calmly, "You won't hurt me, Tom."

"How wrong you are," he snarled.

"You won't hurt me because I mean too much to you," she said, still unafraid.

A flicker behind his eyes told her that she was correct, but he only dug his wand into her collarbone and said, "Don't flatter yourself."

They stared at each other, each daring the other to do something first. Finally, Luna said, "You really are going to have nargles in your hair." She reached up and ran her fingers through his silky hair.

Tom took a startled step back from her and swatted her hand away. "Don't even bother trying to use your – your feminine _wiles _on me, Lovegood," he spat. "You don't even have any to speak of."

She looked taken aback, which was the effect he had wanted, but rather than upset that he had insulted her femininity, she looked upset that he had accused her of this when she had honestly been looking for nargles.

"You're unbelievable," he snapped, before turning on his heel and storming off.

* * *

On Christmas Eve night, Tom was outside on the grounds, where several inches of snow had fallen. He took a long walk around the lake and was heading up to the castle when something dark in the blanket of white snow caught his eye. It looked small and furry, and at first Tom thought it was only a kitten, but upon closer inspection he saw a lion-like tale and enormous ears, and he realized that it was a baby kneazle. The kneazle shivered and mewed at him pathetically.

"Well, go on, find someplace warm," he snapped. "I don't want anything to do with you." He turned and began to walk away when he felt a searing pain in his right ankle. Looking down, he saw that the kneazle had clamped its jaws down into his skin. "Hey, get off me!" he said, and shook his leg violently. This only succeeded in causing the kneazle to dig its claws into him as well, which startled him so badly that he fell over into the snow. He reached down to pry the little cat off of him, but it just bit his fingers, causing them to bleed, until he finally said, "All right! All right! I'll take you inside!" The kneazle immediately started purring and he scooped it up begrudgingly, muttering, "No idea what to do with you, though. I don't want you." The kneazle dug his claws gently into Tom's hand, as though warning him.

Tom entered the castle very cold and very wet. He stood there dripping and shivering for a few minutes while the kneazle nuzzled his fingers, trying to get him to pet it.

"Tom! What's happened to you?" Luna's voice drifted down the stairs.

Looking up at her, Tom felt slightly awkward. He hadn't spoken to her since the night with the mistletoe, and dripping wet in the entrance hall was not exactly the way he had wanted her to catch him.

She glided over to him quickly. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the ball of fur in his hands.

Making a decision quickly, he shoved the baby kneazle into her hands, saying, "Your Christmas present."

Luna inspected the kneazle and squealed with delight. "Oh, Tom, you've got me a kneazle! He's so cute!" Forgetting that Tom was dripping wet and freezing, she kissed his cheek quickly before scampering away to play with her new pet.

Tom stood stock still for several minutes, and he too forgot that he was cold. He reached up a hand to where her lips had been just seconds before. A warm feeling had started to form in the pit of his stomach. For a moment, he thought he was seriously ill, but then he realized that it was something else entirely: He was happy. And it wasn't the kind of happy he had known before. This was very different from the smug feeling he got when he got his way about something. No, he was happy because of something else. He was happy because he had made her happy, and this feeling was entirely new for Tom Riddle.


	10. Christmas Day

**Disclaimer:** I don't own itttttttt.

* * *

"_The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."  
--Carl Jung_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Christmas Day**

Luna woke up on Christmas morning to find a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She grinned and leapt up to open them.

The first she opened was from Lorraine, who had sent her a homemade chocolate cake that was slightly smooshed. The second was from Lucinda: a pair of earrings that were (in Luna's opinion) boring, but she would wear them to be nice. Next she opened Tristy's gift, which was a book on Transfiguration methods of the twentieth century. Cat sent her a book as well, though this one vastly more interesting, called Unproven Magical Species that listed not only the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but heliopaths, Blibbering Humdingers, nargles, Moonfrogs, Umgubular Slashkilters, Aquavirius Maggots, Wrackspurts, and Gulping Plimpies. The package from Cat also included a long letter with a list detailing over seventy reasons Luna was lucky for her lack of brothers. Finally, Luna got dressed, and after sticking her wand behind her ear and her new kneazle into her pocket (he rode along with his head poking out), she left her dormitory to go have Christmas breakfast.

Tom was already in the Great Hall when she arrived and she plopped down next to him, helping herself to some eggs and bacon. "Happy Christmas, Thomas," she said.

He scowled. "Don't call me that."

Luna appeared to not notice this retort, and began to pour copious amounts of maple syrup onto her bacon.

"That's for the pancakes, you know," Tom said, watching her.

Luna peered closely at the container of syrup. After a moment, she announced, "It doesn't say anywhere on it that you have to use it on pancakes."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I'm sure they assume that most people have enough common sense to know it without putting a sign or something."

"Who's they?" Luna asked as she took a bite of syrup-drenched bacon.

"Never mind." Tom took a sip of orange juice, and caught sight of the kneazle poking out of her pocket. "Why'd you bring that with you?"

"Hmm?" Luna looked down and saw what he was talking about. "Oh, I love him, Tom, thanks again."

Tom secretly felt both pleased and guilty. Pleased, because she enjoyed his present so much, and guilty because it wasn't really a present at all, but rather something he sort of shoved off on her. "Have you named it yet?"

"First of all, he's a boy. Not an it."

"Fine. Have you named him?"

"Yes."

Tom waited. After several moments in which Luna continued to chew her soggy bacon, he said, "Well, are you going to tell me his name?"

"Oh, I thought you just wanted to know if I had named him or not," she said. "Well, I've decided to name him Othello."

"Othello?" Tom asked.

"Yes. It's a name from a play by Shakespeare. You _have _heard of Shakespeare, haven't you?" she said.

"I heard of him in the orphanage. Isn't he some muggle playwright?" he said, with the familiar distaste forming in his mouth.

"Yes. Othello is the main character in one of his tragedies. You should read it," she replied, buttering a piece of bread.

"Why would I want to read something by a muggle?" he sneered.

"Muggles aren't bad, you know. They really aren't that different from us."

"You can think that all you want, Lovegood." He stood up and left the Great Hall.

Taking a bite of bread, she stood up and followed him. "They really aren't," she said just behind him.

He turned to her. "I hate muggles. I hate them. I hate everything about them."

Luna observed calmly that his eyes were a dim reddish color again. "Just because your muggle dad walked out on you, doesn't mean all muggles would do it."

For a second, she was quite sure he was going to slap her. His eyes were vivid red and his lip curled back in a snarl. He plunged his hand into his pocket, undoubtedly reaching for his wand. He stood glowering for a moment, seeming to rock back and forth upon the edge of fury before storming away once again.

"Tom, honestly, how do you expect to be a truly great wizard when you are so close-minded?" she said, trotting along beside him.

"Leave me alone," he muttered.

"No," she said simply.

"I don't want to talk to you."

"I don't care."

"Well, maybe you should start."

She reached out and grabbed his arm. He tried to pull away, but she held on, stumbling when he wrenched his arm forward. "Stop."

He shoved her violently away from him, causing Othello to mew indignantly at him. "Seriously Lovegood - "

" – Luna."

"Seriously _Luna_, I think you're taking it for granted that I haven't hurt you already," he growled.

"Come with me," she said softly.

She turned away without another word and walked back to the entrance hall and outside to the grounds. After a moment, she heard him sigh as though disgusted with himself, then begin to follow her. She was halfway across the grounds when he said from behind her, "Are we going into the bloody forest again? I'm freezing. I don't have my cloak."

Glancing back over her shoulder, she said, "Me neither."

"Well, you're not exactly normal, are you?" he grumbled.

"And we're not going to the forest, by the way. We're going to the lake."

As they arrived at the lake, which was currently frozen over, Tom caught up to Luna and stood next to her. "Did we just come to look at this lovely expanse of ice, or was there something else?" he drawled.

"I want to talk to you."

"Oh, wonderful," he said sarcastically.

She turned to him. "I want to make a deal with you."

"And…?"

"I'll give you five minutes to try and convince me that Blibbering Humdingers aren't real if you give _me_ five minutes to try and convince _you_ that muggles aren't that bad."

He snorted. "Lovegood - "

" – Luna."

"_Luna_," he hissed, "what is the point? I'm never going to believe you and you're never going to believe me."

"I just thought it might be interesting. You go first." She glanced at her watch. "Go."

Tom gaped for a minute, trying to think of something to say. "Well – Blibbering Humdingers…that is to say, they don't exist."

"Mmhm, and?" Luna said, listening politely.

"Well, no one's ever actually _seen _one. I mean, a few crackpots have, but they don't really matter because, well, they're crackpots. It's a made up creature. I don't know what else to say," he finished lamely.

Luna glanced at her watch again. "You still have four minutes and eleven seconds left."

"I told you, I don't know what else to say."

She sighed. "Fine. My turn, then." She turned her back to him and gingerly walked out onto the ice. Though she wasn't wearing ice skates, she glided across the surface of the lake. "First of all, you only hate muggles because you've had bad experiences with them."

"Yeah, if you call neglect and a pathetic father who ran away once he discovered my mum was a witch 'bad experiences.'"

"It's my turn, Thomas. Your father. Let's start there. You are angry because he left your mother, which is quite a good reason to be angry. But your father is just one man, right? Just like every witch isn't like me - " Tom snorted, " – not all muggles are like your father."

"Then explain away the orphanage, Lovegood. That will be a jolly sight harder. Dozens of muggles, there."

"I told you it was my turn. So you ended up at a muggle orphanage, because of course, with your mum dead and your dad gone, nobody really knew what you were, did they? And through a series of unfortunate events, you were stuck with more horrid muggles."

"A series of unfortunate events? What are you playing at? They're all horrid," he said.

"Oh, hush up," she said, causing him to look rather frightening again. "I can understand why you feel the way you do about muggles, Tom. You've had terrible luck. However," she said, loudly, as she spun around once on the ice, "your misfortune is not reason enough to condemn every muggle, is it?"

He pondered this for a minute. Finally he said, "Yes. Yes it is."

Luna huffed and collapsed onto the ice. "I'm unbelievable? You should look at yourself. Why are you doing this to yourself? You're so smart, Tom, I know you are, so why can't you see that you're only making everything a bajillion times worse for yourself?"

He moved so suddenly that she didn't quite realize he was moving until he was right next to her. He grabbed her by the chin and forcefully made her stand up. Othello hissed at him from her pocket. "Don't talk to me that way." He shoved her away once again, and this time she fell backwards and slid for several feet across the ice.

He turned and began to walk away, but he hadn't gotten far before something very cold and wet hit him in the back of the head. He whirled around to see Luna sitting on the ice and gazing at him with huge eyes, and Othello making an odd squeaky noise that could only be interpreted as kneazle giggles. "Did you just throw a snowball at me?"

Luna nodded quite calmly and grinned.

He began to charge at her, but Othello suddenly leapt from the pocket and ran under Tom's feet, causing him to fall down onto the ice hard. Tom screamed in rage and swiped at the kneazle, who had already darted back to Luna's lap. Feeling quite foolish, he said, "Who names their pet Othello? Not a normal name."

"Me," she said simply.

"Well, there you are," he muttered.


	11. Christmas Day, Part II

A/N: K, I really appreciate your reviews so here we go –  
Lena Bergel: Thanks!  
coppernicus: Haha, thanks, I love him.  
kuzuki: Thanks! And of course Tom is evil. Haha.  
heartbreaker23: Thanks! And thanks again!  
selenepotter: Ah, well. I figured Luna would be humble enough to think that she couldn't change time. But we shall see, yes?  
Right or Ryn: Ahh, I love your reviews. Thanks!  
Djorlcc: Thank you, thank you, thank you.  
KyootNShort: Tom's just gotten used to Luna knowing things she shouldn't. Haha. As for the kneazle, I was having way too much fun writing him. And of course we had to have a Malfoy-gets-slapped somewhere in the story.  
jrkgirlrox: Well, Tom has to lose his dignity at some point. Haha.  
mysinisterblackrose: Of course Luna rocks!  
Love Fantasy: Thanks so much. Your comment meant a lot to me. This is my first fanfiction I've posted for others to read so it's a bit nerve-wracking. And you seem to be doing just fine with English.  
f i r e f l y o f h e l l: gah, your name was hard for me to type for some reason. Haha, but thanks!  
cambio de forma: Thanks, and good luck in college!  
toakf-o: Thanks!  
Chicken Nugget 101: Thanks! I love your reviews.  
Sachita: Thanks! Keeping them in character is sort of important, I guess….  
Flame Dancer 077: Thanks! I hope I don't disappoint you with Luna stories. Haha.  
QFMercury: Thanks!  
piearesquared: Thanks!  
MrsQuackers: And another Thanks!

Whew, if I missed you I'm very very sorry. I just wanted to let you all know that I really like hearing what you think, so thank you again!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own over a hundred teddy bears, a top hat, tap shoes, and a flamingo action figure, but not Harry Potter.

* * *

_"It is the most unhappy people who most fear change."  
--Mignon McLaughlin_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Christmas Day Part II**

Feeling very cold, Tom stalked up to the school with Luna (and Othello in her pocket) bouncing along by his side.

"It was just a snowball."

"It was not just a snowball."

"Yes it was. I didn't put any rock in it, or anything like that."

Tom didn't reply. He didn't even look at her.

"You're being ridiculous."

He snorted. "That's funny, coming from you."

She blinked. "Why do you try so hard to make me feel bad?"

Cocking an eyebrow at her, he said, "Oh, you've realized it then? I thought you just hadn't noticed."

"I'm not stupid." She had stopped walking.

Against his better judgment, he stopped, too. "Aren't you?"

"No," she said.

"In my opinion, anyone who thinks muggles are all right is stupid," he said scathingly.

"I don't care for your opinion. I don't think even you do, much," she replied.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you don't really take your own advice, do you?" she asked. When he said nothing, she continued, "You want to stay away from me, but you don't."

"That's because you keep following me around," he snapped.

"No, I don't. You're the one who followed me out to the lake."

"One time, then."

"That's not the only time, and you know it."

He scowled at her. "Why, does it bother you? Because I can leave you alone."

"No, I like spending time with you."

He felt his mouth drop open a little bit. _Why would she enjoy spending time with me? I'm not exactly a gentleman. Nobody's ever really liked to spend time with me. _

"Maybe nobody's liked spending time with you before because they only see your outside," she said as though she had read his mind.

"My outside is my inside," he said.

"That's not true. Everyone thinks you're heartless. But you aren't. Not yet, anyway."

"What do you mean, 'not yet'?"

She studied him for a moment. "I mean that if you continue on the way you are, you won't have a heart soon."

He stared at her for a moment, before saying, "So? Having a heart is a human weakness."

"You're human."

"I will make myself better than any human," he replied.

The way she looked at him then was as though she felt sorry for him, which made him furious. _I don't need her sympathy._

"Why are you so unhappy?" she asked dreamily, not quite looking at him.

"I am happy," he spat.

"Happy people don't scream when they get hit with snowballs or shove people across lakes," she replied. "Well, I suppose they might in a joking manner, but you certainly weren't joking…," she mused.

"Why do you care so much? Honestly."

"Because I know you're not heartless."

"Stop using that word," he scowled.

She tilted her head slightly. "I know you aren't, though. You made sure Malfoy didn't hurt me - "

" - I already told you I didn't do that for you."

" – You petted the thestrals with me instead of giving me detention - "

" – I was sick that night, I wasn't right in my head."

" – You couldn't hurt me that day in the hall - "

" – I could have if you hadn't tried to pull a move on me," he grumbled.

" – And you even got me Othello for Christmas!" she said triumphantly.

"Look, I didn't get that stupid thing for you, I found it outside the castle. It bit the hell out of me and wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to take it inside. When I saw you, I just gave it to you because I knew you'd take it and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore."

Her triumphant look faded almost instantly. "Oh."

He didn't like seeing her like that. She was sad, and it was his fault. _Why do I give a damn if I hurt her bloody feelings?! _He shook his head at her, disgusted with himself, and turned to walk away.

"I'm not done talking to you," she said in a voice so commanding that he turned back around.

He gaped at her. "I don't care. I'm done talking to you."

"You're just afraid to change."

"I'm not afraid of anything."

She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, very good, you can be masculine. Don't be stupid, Tom, you're more terrified than anyone I've ever met."

He expected himself to grow furious at her accusations. He _wanted _to be angry. But instead, he felt unnaturally blank and empty. Somewhere, deep down in his heart that had withered and ached for so long, that he hated so much, he knew that she was right.

She went on, growing angrier than he had ever seen her. "You're wasting your life away. When was the last time you laughed, Tom? And I don't mean sniggering at someone because you got the best of them, I mean actually _laughed_? When was the last time you enjoyed the winter's air without complaining about how cold you were? You're living in a gigantic, ridiculous, self-created paradox. You are smarter than anyone, and you know so little. You will add years to your life, but not life to your years. You make me so angry, Tom. Don't you realize, that – that life isn't measured by the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away?" She said all this very fast, and when she finished, she was breathing heavily and her eyes were shining a little too much. And with that, she turned away from him and went quietly inside, leaving him very cold and very much alone.

* * *

Luna spent the rest of Christmas day in her dormitory. She had never felt this way before. 

_Did I actually think I could change him? Did I actually believe that he cared enough for me at all to actually give a damn? And did I actually start to care about him? _Then the tears came. Luna could not remember when she last cried. She hadn't even cried when her mother died.

She was in the room when it had happened. When her mother fell to the floor, Luna had rushed to her, taking her hand. She watched the life slip out of her mother's eyes. She had waited there until her father came home. She had watched her father cry. She had held her father's hand at the funeral. She had let her father hold her close as he cried himself to sleep. But she had not cried. Luna Lovegood had still believed in hope.

And now this boy, this Tom Riddle, who would grow up to be Lord Voldemort…. She had never doubted the things she believed before. Her faith was strong, whether it be in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or in the fact that she would see her mother again.

But Luna Lovegood was Luna Lovegood, and not even Tom Riddle could change that. Around two in the afternoon, after Othello had alternated several times between licking her face and purring to make her feel better, and digging his claws into her feet to try and make her to get up, she sat up from her bed. _Oh, Luna, stop it. Get out of bed._

She went and took a long hot shower, and sat on the end of her bed brushing her long hair out. _Tom does have a heart, even if he doesn't want to admit it. He was so pleased with himself when he gave me Othello. _She looked fondly at the kneazle, who was batting at her wet hair. _I believe him that he found him outside, but nevertheless... Luna Lovegood, you have gotten into his head, and if you give up now, I'll never forgive you. Or rather, I'll never forgive myself. Or something along those lines. _She smiled. _And I'm going to show him a Blibbering Humdinger._


	12. Back to School

**Disclaimer:** Blah blah blah

* * *

_"Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways, it can change someone else's life forever."  
__--Margaret Cho_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Back to School**

When Luna emerged from the Ravenclaw common room on Boxing Day, it was to find Tom waiting for her. He was leaning against the wall opposite the door with the brass knocker, with his hands in his pockets. He appeared lost in thought, and he did not look up until Othello meowed at him inquisitively from Luna's pocket.

"Oh! Good morning," he said.

She eyed him. "Good morning."

He appeared to stumble over words for a moment, then grimaced and said quickly, "If you're going down to breakfast, we should walk together."

She inspected him for several long moments, before nodding.

For the rest of the holiday break, Tom and Luna were nearly always together. He never said he was sorry or admitted she was right, but she didn't need to hear it. It was just something they both knew. Most of the time they spent together was in silence, but it was not uncomfortable silence. They spent much of their time outside, and as 1943 rolled into 1944 Tom realized that for the first time in his life, he cared about someone other than himself. She was his best friend, his only friend.

Of course, just as Luna Lovegood is Luna Lovegood, Tom Riddle is undeniably Tom Riddle. He was still cynical, cold, and aloof, but Luna had caught him almost smiling on more than one occasion, particularly when she drew him a picture of a Blibbering Humdinger.

"What is that?" Tom said coldly.

"A Blibbering Humdinger, Thomas."

"Stop calling me that. It's not even my name."

"Look at this, Tom, and look at the way its wings are…." And out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn he grinned in spite of himself.

They were in the library at the time, when Professor Dumbledore came in, interrupting Luna as she said, "The Humdinger's saliva is said to have more powerful properties than dragon blood."

"Miss Lovegood?" Dumbledore said. Both Tom and Luna looked up from the picture.

"Yes, sir?" she asked.

"Please come with me."

He led her back to him office that she had sat in over three months ago. They resumed their positions on either side of the desk. "Have you found a way to send me back?" she asked vaguely.

"Very shrewd of you, Miss Lovegood. Perhaps I just invited you here for crumpets," he said with his eyes doing their signature twinkle. "However, you are correct in your assumption as to why I brought you. I regret to inform you that I have not as yet discovered a way for you to return to your own time. I am attempting to make a reverse Time-Turner, which is proving to be quite difficult. More difficult than I even imagined."

Feeling oddly relieved, Luna said, "That's all right, Professor."

Eyeing her curiously, he said, "So you will have to remain in the past for at least a while longer."

"I don't mind. I've made friends here," she replied.

"Yes, I've noticed. Particularly Miss Catalina Litner," he said.

"Oh yes, Cat is wonderful."

"…And Tom Riddle."

Luna gazed back at him, wondering what he meant.

He leaned forward slightly in his chair. "Miss Lovegood, Tom Riddle is quite a worry to me. I encourage your friendship. You may be, as the muggles say, just what the doctor ordered." He smiled at her kindly while peering over his glasses.

Luna returned the smile. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

Before Luna knew it, all of her friends had returned from their vacations and it was the first day back to class. She was seated at the Ravenclaw table listening politely as Cat raged on about how obnoxious her four younger brothers were. 

"Of course, they're always horrible. I'm the only magical one in the family, and they're so jealous, it must make them sick. So they know that I can't do magic away from school, and I tell you they take full advantage of it, the miserable gits." She rambled on and on, causing Lorraine to roll her eyes, Tristy to sigh into her book, and Lucinda to get up in a huff and move farther along the table to sit with her other friends.

Cat paused in the mid-rant to offer Luna the pitcher and say, "Apple juice, Luna?"

Before Luna could decline, a voice from behind her said, "She doesn't like apple juice."

All four girls turned to look at who had spoken. Tom Riddle stood there. Cat looked at him and it was apparent that she didn't trust him. "You don't like apple juice, Luna?" she asked.

Luna shook her head. "I don't believe in apples."

Cat opened her mouth to ask how someone could not believe in apples, but Tom interrupted. "Can we go somewhere, Luna?" he asked impatiently.

Luna merely nodded, stood, and left with him, leaving her friends gaping at their retreating backs.

"What's the matter, Tom?" Luna asked, ignoring or not noticing all the eyes in the Great Hall following them out.

He glanced over his shoulder at the staring faces. Gesturing at them all, he said, "That's what the matter is."

Luna turned fully to stare back at the other students. "So? People always look at me that way."

Tom pulled her by the arm to keep her moving. "Yes, but they don't look at me that way."

"Oh. You don't want to be friends now that school's back in?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"Well, I – I mean, I don't know. All the Slytherins won't shut up about it…."

"Does it matter?" she said quietly.

He inspected her face and weighed his options. _I could just get rid of her, and be done with it. That would be the easiest thing to do. _But something wouldn't let him do that, so instead he just shook his head and said, "They'll just have to learn to get used to it."

Luna smiled inwardly before they parted to go to class.

* * *

Later that day, they sat next to each other in Potions, and Luna had brought the picture of the Humdinger along. They had continued to be partners even after the Veritaserum was complete. 

"Why did you bring that? We're supposed to be making this potion," Tom snapped, looking with distaste down at the drawing.

"Because I wasn't done explaining it to you, Tom. Now look…." She continued to babble into Tom's ear as he mashed his beetles into a ridiculously fine powder. Just as she was about to start on just how Humdinger saliva was as powerful as dragon's blood, the picture mysteriously caught fire. "Oh!" she cried, as she dropped it. The Slytherins around her snickered. She stared down at the flaming parchment for a few moments before gasping. "Ooh, Tom, it must have been a heliopath! They can turn invisible when they want to!"

Tom looked at her incredulously as he tucked his wand back into his pocket.

* * *

Luna spent the rest of the day in a mood of excitement, firmly believing that she had had contact with a heliopath. Tom didn't bother to contradict her. 

After dinner, they sat outside on the steps to the castle. The air was still cold, but Tom now knew better than to say anything about it. Luna was absentmindedly stroking Othello in her lap.

"Are we friends now, Tom?" she asked dreamily.

He glanced sideways at her. "I suppose so."

She smiled. "I've never had too many friends. I mean, back home I have Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny. But Ron and Hermione still think I'm weird, and Ginny does a little, too. Harry likes me, I think, but Neville's really the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm different," she said as she stared off into the distance, her eyes unfocused.

Tom stared at her. He had never heard her speak of her life before she had come here, and he had not really given it much thought. For a moment, he had an odd feeling that he would have liked to harm Harry, Ron, and Neville, but the feeling passed.

"Then I came here," she continued, "and I met Cat, Lorraine, Lucinda, and Tristy. Lucinda is like Ron, she thinks I'm weird still. Tristy doesn't really talk much, but we like each other all right. Lorraine is a friend, but none of them really compare to Cat. I've never had a friend like Cat before." She glanced up at him. "I've never had a friend like you before either."

He looked determinedly at the stone of the steps. "I've never had a friend before," he mumbled. For a moment he thought that Luna had not heard him, but she must have because she took his cool hand in her warm one briefly and squeezed it gently.

A voice came from behind them, interrupting the moment they had shared. "Well, isn't this sweet?"

Tom and Luna turned to see Abraxas Malfoy accompanied by several other Slytherins, including a few girls who were looking at Luna as though they would rather rip her hair out than say hello.

Malfoy sauntered down to them and said, "Dear, dear, Tom, I hope you're getting good use out of her." His eyes sparkled maliciously.

Tom felt his anger grow. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I think he means that you're using me for physical gratification because I'm not much good for anything else," Luna said matter-of-factly. She didn't appear to notice the tense situation, and everyone stared at her for moment.

"Is that what you mean, Malfoy?" Tom said.

Malfoy sneered. "Well, what else would you be doing with her?"

"Perhaps she's my – my friend," Tom said, faltering for only a moment.

"You don't even want to admit it, Riddle," Malfoy said.

It was only when Tom had pulled his wand out of his robes that Luna apparently realized that something was amiss. "Tom, stop," she said, tugging on his wand arm which held his wand pointing into Malfoy's face.

"Yes, Tom, stop," Malfoy replied, making an attempt to sound smug, but his fear coming through, and his eyes never leaving the tip of Tom's wand.

"You're a coward, Malfoy," Tom seethed, ignoring Luna. "You know I have more power than you could even dream of, and if you want to keep your reputation in tact, I would suggest not meddling in what I do in my spare time."

Malfoy appeared to be trying to decide if it was really worth it to mock Tom anymore, then decided that it definitely was not. He nodded curtly and said, "Of course." He swept away back into the entrance hall, motioning for the other Slytherins to follow him.

Tom continued to seethe for a few moments, breathing heavily. He turned back to see Luna smiling at him knowingly.

"Was that for your own benefit, too?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, shut up," he scowled.


	13. I Don't Like You

A/N: Ahhh it took me over like a day and a half to post again whaaat?!?! Well, at least I have good reason. Apparently I have to read a bunch of books by some Russian dude before school starts for my college credit English course, which I wasn't aware of, and now I'm kinda in a hurry because school starts in two weeks. So that is why my updates will be slowed somewhat.

KyootNShort: Um, omg. If I had known it would be so offensive that Luna didn't believe in apples, I never would have said it. If it makes it any better, I love apples and apple juice. Um, again, I'm sorry.  
Dead2self: I'm glad you're enjoying it!  
Mysinisterblackrose: That made my day.  
Right or Ryn: Bwahahahahaha I'm evil though, so maybe their friendship isn't as peachy keen as it may seem….  
DarkeLyte: Eww, a too-nice Tom would be a real downer, wouldn't it? No, most of Tom's appeal is that he is a big old prat, so it wouldn't be much fun to make him Mr. Nice Guy, even if I was tempted to.

I know I didn't reply to all of them, but I'm sure you understand. I love all your reviews.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** dis-claim-er [dis-**kley**-mer -_noun_ 1. the act of disclaiming; the renouncing repudiating, or denying of a claim; disavowal.

* * *

"_Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem."  
--W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: I Don't Like You**

"Riddle! Wake up!" Tom was shaken awake in the middle of the night to an unpleasant sight: Abraxas Malfoy leaning over him.

"What d'you want, Malfoy?" Tom said sleepily and rolled over.

"I've found out where your dad is," Malfoy replied.

Suddenly wide awake, Tom sat up straight in his bed and rubbed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I know where he's living. He's still with his parents at their old house."

Tom felt revulsion deep in the back of his throat. "How pathetic."

Malfoy appeared to teeter on the edge of asking a question.

"Spit it out, then, Malfoy."

Malfoy scowled at him, still angry about the incident on the steps with Luna two weeks prior. "Why did you want me to find your father so badly?"

Tom sneered. "Perhaps if it hadn't taken you several months to find him, I would grant you that knowledge. Now tell me where he is."

"In a village called Little Hangleton," Malfoy explained, and told Tom everything he had found out before Tom dismissed him again.

Tom was unable to get back to sleep, and instead lay awake late into the night.

* * *

He was exceedingly grouchy the next morning, even more so than usual and ignored Luna as she bobbed along beside him before breakfast, going on about something. He didn't really acknowledge her until she prodded him in the stomach, saying, "Tom!" 

He swatted at her hand. "What?"

"I was just asking if you were all right. You're acting funny," she said, observing him with her huge moons of eyes.

"I'm fine."

She poked him again. "Stop it. I know something's going on, and _you_ know I won't stop until I know what it is."

He inspected her face. "All right, I'll tell you later. I don't want anyone to overhear us."

Luna seemed appeased with this arrangement and they separated to go to their House tables for breakfast.

It being a Friday, Luna had Ancient Runes, followed by Arithmancy. During Arithmancy, she sat down next to Tom. She leaned into him.

Suddenly tense, he said, "What are you doing?"

She tilted her head. "Sniffing you. You smell nice," as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.

Feeling foolish, he rolled his eyes and focused at the front of the room.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" she asked.

"After class, Lovegood," he snarled.

"Luna," she whispered before class began.

After class, Tom led Luna into the empty classroom that they had met in once before. He paced across the floor, trying to decide how to best word his problem.

Finally, Luna said dreamily, "Are you going to tell me?"

He scowled at her. "All right, fine. At the end of last year, I told Malfoy – you know, the guy you slapped – to find my father. I didn't tell him much besides my father's name, though he asked several times about my reasons for having him do this."

"Why didn't you do it yourself?" she interrupted.

"I expected him to complete the task over the summer, which made it easier for him than for me, as I was shut up in the orphanage."

She nodded, indicating for him to continue. "However, it took him longer than expected. But he still found him."

"Ooh, where is he?" she asked.

"Stop interrupting me!" he spat.

Ignoring him, she asked, "Are you going to go talk to him?"

He glared at her. "Of course not. I'm going to go kill him, Lovegood."

"Oh, well I would think he'd much prefer…." Her eyes grew wider than normal. She gaped at him for a moment. "Oh, Tom, you can't do that!"

Tom was furious with himself. He hadn't planned on telling her that much, but something about her always made him say stupid things that he hadn't intended to say. Now she was looking at him like he was horrible, which made his anger transfer to her. His eyes burned slightly, and he knew that they were red once more.

"Yes, I can. He deserves it."

"Tom, please, don't talk like this," she begged. She reached out to him, but he only grabbed her wrist painfully.

Ignoring her pained squeak of protest, he growled, "This is who I am, Luna. He deserves to die. He should die. Even you can't deny that."

"I most certainly can!" she cried. She tried to wrench her arm out of his grip, but he only held on more tightly. Choosing to not give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her, she said, "Its murder. You should never commit murder."

"I can! Stop trying to tell me what to do, Lovegood!" he screamed.

She stared at him. Finally, she said very quietly, "I thought you had changed."

He threw her to the ground, and turned to leave. Before he could slam the door behind him, he heard her say, "I don't like you very much, Tom Riddle."

He stalked down to the Slytherin common room, deciding not to go to dinner. He went into his dormitory. He tried to lie down on his bed, but couldn't. He stood up once again, and paced the room. Finally, in a fury, he picked up a pitcher of water resting on his bedside table and hurled it at the wall. He grinned wickedly as he shattered, spraying water everywhere. This momentary relief did not last long. He threw himself onto his bed, punching his pillow furiously for a moment.

She would never know how much her words affected him. Of anything she could have said, she had said the only things that could have affected him terribly. Her voice echoed in his head: _I don't like you...I don't like you..._

* * *

He must have fallen asleep, because when he woke up, his roommates were in their beds as well. Glancing at his clock, he saw that it was just past eight in the morning. He looked out the window. A silvery mist hung low on the ground, and the sun tried feebly to warm the January air as it made its way above the horizon. 

He rolled out of bed, his head pounding. He went to the bathrooms and took a shower as hot as he could stand. He stood under the water for at least an hour, before a pounding on the door moved him from his reverie. "Riddle! Get the hell out of the shower! You've been in there for almost two hours!"

He sighed, but turned the water off, not because of his roommate, but because his stomach had started to rumble feebly. He dried off and dressed, leaving the bathroom and scowling at the shouter – Nott – who scowled in return.

As he made his way up to the Great Hall, he remembered that it was Saturday. He was glad he didn't have to go to any classes today. It would be that much easier to avoid Luna. Luna…. _I don't like you…I don't like you..._

His head still ached as he entered the Great Hall. He threw himself down into a seat and began piling bacon and toast on his plate. He chewed violently, attempting to take out his anger on the food. A prickling on the back of his neck made him look towards the doors. Luna sashayed in with her Mudblood friend Cat. She didn't even look at him.

He glanced at her arm, but did a double take. On the wrist he had brutally grabbed the day before, a bruise was forming in the shape of his hand. It was a deep reddish purple right now. He stared at it as she walked to the Ravenclaw table.

He felt a pang in his chest that felt horribly like guilt. And once again, her words echoed in his mind. _I don't like you…I don't like you..._


	14. Thestrals

**Disclaimer:** Umm, fish are friends, not food.

* * *

"_The simple lack of her is more to me than others' presence."  
--Edward Thomas_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Thestrals**

The next few days passed painfully slow for Tom. During Potions, Luna partnered with Cat and didn't speak to him. During meals, she avoided his eyes. He told his other friends (or at least those closest to him) that he didn't care, but he did.

On Friday night, a week later, he lay awake in bed once again, futilely trying to sleep. At a quarter after midnight, he finally rose from his bed with a grunt, threw on his shoes and left the common room.

Although he had pinned his Prefect badge to his robe, he still walked quietly, hoping he would meet no one. He made it to the Entrance Hall without meeting anyone, and it was only when he reached for the oak doors to go outside that he realized where he was going.

_Bloody hell. What for? I'm going to freeze, first of all. Second, if I get caught, I'll never get the Head Boy badge. Third, there's no reason to go down there at all._ These were the thoughts that raced across his mind as he opened the doors and walked down the steps and onto the grass.

He sneered at himself. _There I go again, disregarding my own advice. _He exhaled and saw a cloud form at his lips momentarily before dissipating. He cursed himself for coming outside in the middle of the night in January, but he still kept walking.

Looking up at the inky sky, he observed several constellations that he had studied in Astronomy. It was not until the trees blocked out his view of the stars that he looked away.

He patted his pocket for his wand, but realized he had left it by his bed when he left. _Damn. Now I even get to walk in the dark._ He continued walking, not quite sure where he was going, and occasionally tripping over a root that he couldn't see in the dim light provided by the moon and stars. After several minutes, he looked around. _Am I going the right way? Well, this looks familiar. But it's all a bunch of bloody trees, so it all looks familiar._

He walked for several minutes, slowly coming to the conclusion that he must be going the wrong way. He was finally about to turn around, when he came upon the clearing.

All the black beasts were missing, save for one. This one was lying down in the center of the clearing, but it was not asleep. Its red eyes followed him as he slowly entered the clearing. It didn't budge, for it seemed reluctant to move. As Tom drew closer to the thestral, he saw why.

With a sharp intake of breath, he saw Luna leaning against the body of the thestral. She was asleep, and he stared at her blonde hair cascading over the thestral's back, contrasting beautifully with its dark skin.

He went up to her, the thestral never taking its eyes off of him, and kneeled by her side. He silently admired the way her long eyelashes gently rested on her cheeks, and the way she smiled slightly in her sleep. Finally shaking himself mentally, he took her shoulders and gently shook her awake.

She yawned leisurely and stretched. She opened her eyes slowly and observed him knelt beside her. A smile twitched at the corner of her lips as she patted the thestral affectionately, who then stood and meandered into the trees to find its fellows. "I thought you'd come here, Tom," she said sleepily.

He fought the urge to argue with her, and instead said, "Why would you think that?"

Her eyes danced merrily as she looked at him. "I fell asleep waiting for you, you know. I know you."

"No you don't," he snapped. "Obviously not, since you were so shocked when you heard about my plans for my father."

The light in her eyes faded. She sighed and said, "Yes. About that…."

"Nothing you say will make me change my mind," he said fiercely.

He shifted uncomfortably as her eyes bored into his. "Tell me, Tom, why did you come out here then?" When he said nothing, she continued, "You came out here to see me, didn't you? And you knew I would try to change your mind. So, obviously part of you wants your mind to be changed or else you wouldn't be here, would you?"

He scowled at her for a moment, but his gaze softened. "I don't know what I want anymore. And it's all your fault."

She appeared taken aback. "How is it my fault?"

"You just are…different."

"Well, yes, I've heard that before."

He shook his head. "No, you're really different. I don't like it."

Hurt, she said, "Then why don't you leave me alone?"

"I don't like it because it makes everything so much harder," he replied honestly.

"I'm sorry I make things harder for you, Tom," she said without much honesty.

He sneered. "No, you aren't. You love every minute of it."

She shrugged innocently, and reached up to brush a stray hair out of her face. The moonlight was clear and bright in the clearing, and Tom saw once again the bruise he had made, now tinged with green and yellow. He felt the now familiar twinge of guilt.

"Can't you hide that?" he said, with an attempt to sound as though he didn't care.

For a moment she looked puzzled, as though she didn't know what he was talking about, but then she followed his gaze to her wrist. "Oh! Well, I don't see the point. I just told my friends I had a run-in with a grindylow. They have long, thin fingers like you, you know."

"I'm sure they believed that," he said sarcastically, while glancing down at his fingers. They were long and thin. He had never noticed before.

"They did, actually, so you're off the hook," she replied.

She gazed steadily at him for a moment, and he once again noticed her unnatural lack of blinking. He said nothing, though. Instead he flopped backwards onto his back and stared at the night sky.

After a moment, she lay down next to him, and her scent of citrus drifted over to him. He inhaled deeply, savoring the smell. "When are you going to tell me the truth about your past, Luna?" he asked suddenly.

She propped herself up on her elbow to look into his face. "When are you going to tell me the truth about yours?" she retorted.

He said nothing, so she relaxed back down to the ground, she savoring the scent and feel of the cold, hard earth.

"I'm cold," he said after a few moments of silence.

"I'm sorry," she replied vaguely.

"Do you want to go inside?"

"No," she said simply. She pulled out her wand and cast a spell to warm the air around them.

Silence resumed, and finally Tom found himself slowly drifting off to sleep. Before sleep took over, he felt Luna move closer to him and rest her head on his chest, using it as a pillow. He smiled groggily and dozed off.

* * *

He woke up some time later. It was still dark outside, though the sky was less inky than before. Glancing around, he realized that the thestrals had returned to the clearing and were sleeping around him and Luna. Luna still had her head on him, and she was still asleep, with that same peaceful look on her face. Her hand had a handful of his robes clutched tightly. He realized with a start that he had his arms around her, and he quickly removed them. _Must have done it while I was sleeping…Its damn cold._

But it wasn't cold. The charm Luna had performed still hovered in the air, and combined with the heat of the thestrals' bodies, he was quite comfortable. He scowled and looked at her once more, just as her eyes fluttered open.

Meeting his eyes, she said, "Hello, Tom."

"Good, you're awake. Can we go inside now? The ground isn't exactly comfortable."

She stretched languidly and Tom tensed at the feeling of her body moving against him until she looked him in the face again. "Are you going to kill your dad?"

He shoved her off of him lightly and stood up. "I don't know."

"You know if you kill him I'll never forgive you," she said.

"I don't know, all right?" he spat.

She shook her head, but she saw the guilty flash behind his eyes. Knowing that she had made as much of an impact as she could for now, she decided not to push him. Instead, she held out her hand and waited for him to take it and help her to her feet. After a moment, he begrudgingly did so. After gaining her balance, she pointed to a thestral a few feet away that was slightly smaller than the others. "Do you remember him?"

He inspected the thestral. "No. They all look the same."

"That's the baby you first petted. Remember?"

"Oh, right. He's big now."

"Yes," she said, looking off into the dark trees.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. "Why do you like them so much?"

"Hm? The thestrals? Well, I don't know…I like all creatures. Especially Othello," she said with a sparkle in her eye, "but he wouldn't get out from under the warm covers on my bed, so I came without him. As for the thestrals, they're just so misunderstood. Look at them. Not many people can see them, so they are ignored, and then the ones who do see them are almost always disgusted by them." She stroked one's nose. "They don't really see beyond what appears to be."

She appeared lost in thought for a moment, but then looked up at him and smiled dreamily. "I've always had a soft spot for misunderstood creatures."

Wondering briefly if that sentence had a deeper meaning than it let on, he said, "So are we going to stay here all night?"

She stepped closer to him. "Well, I suppose not."

They set off through the trees once again. Tom was glad Luna was there this time, because he was certain he would have wandered around for several hours, but she seemed to know where she was going. Sure enough, a few minutes later they emerged from the trees. When they reached the double doors of the castle, Tom insisted on walking Luna up to Ravenclaw Tower.

Before she disappeared into the common room behind the door, she turned to him and said, "Yes, I definitely like thestrals." Then she was gone.


	15. Hindrances

**Disclaimer:** I only play in a world created by someone more imaginative than me, and I enjoy getting to puppet her characters when she isn't looking.

* * *

_"Look at all the sentences which seem true and question them."  
--David Reisman_

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Hindrances**

Tom woke up Saturday well after noon. When he glanced at the clock, he cursed loudly and leapt out of bed to hurry and get ready. He practically ran through the hallways to get to the Great Hall, hoping that he would not miss lunch.

From the smells wafting towards him, he knew that he had not missed lunch, so he slowed to a walk. Upon entering the Great Hall, his eyes immediately scanned the Ravenclaw table for a head of dirty blonde hair. They found their target and settled onto her face for a few moments before he sat at the Slytherin table to eat.

"Late night, Tom?" Malfoy asked.

"Oh, yes," he replied absent-mindedly.

Nott sniggered. "Get laid again, did you?"

Tom dropped his fork with a clang. "What? No, I didn't."

Both Malfoy and Nott looked rather disappointed, but returned their attentions to their food.

* * *

"Luna, your friend just got here. Are you going to tell us what you two did last night?" Lucinda said, prodding Luna's arm.

Luna glanced up with a glazed look in her eyes. "Hmm?"

Cat rolled her eyes. "Tom, Luna. Honestly."

"Oh," she said, her gaze flitting over to the Slytherin table. "We really didn't do much," she replied, missing the innuendo behind their questions.

Lucinda raised her eyebrows. "_Much_?"

Tilting her head, Luna said, "No, not really. We just talked a little in the Forest and accidentally fell asleep."

"Outside?!" Lorraine cried.

"Ooh, you fell asleep under the stars!" Lucinda said.

Tristy sighed. "How romantic."

Luna shook her head. "No, it was really nothing like that," she said, before continuing to eat.

Lucinda and Lorraine exchanged a look that clearly said they did not believe her, but Cat seemed satisfied. "So you two are just friends, then?" she asked.

"Yes, I suppose so. He's the oddest friend I've ever had though," Luna said without looking at her.

Cat shrugged, and the girls moved on with their conversation.

* * *

"She really is sort of good-looking, in a bizarre kind of way," Malfoy noted.

Tom looked up sharply. "Who are you talking about?"

"Lovegood," he replied. "Think she'd go for me if I made nice?"

Fighting an unexplained urge to reach across the table and punch Malfoy on the nose, Tom said fiercely, "I doubt it."

* * *

After lunch, Luna left her friends. They had to go to the library for some homework, but Luna had finished hers already. She drifted over to the Slytherin table and leaned over Tom's shoulder. Her long hair fell forward and brushed his arm. "What are you doing today, Tom?"

He looked around at her. "I've got nothing planned."

Her attention had been diverted, however, and she said, "Why are you staring at me, Malfoy?"

The boy brushed his white-blonde hair back, gave her his most winning grin, and said, "You're not a bad sight."

"Well, I suppose that's good to know," she replied, missing, or perhaps choosing to ignore, his advances. She tugged on Tom's arm. "Let's go outside, I don't like being inside for too long."

After shooting a rather terrifying look at Malfoy, Tom stood up. He glanced over his shoulder as they were walking and saw Malfoy continuing to stare at Luna, though decidedly lower on her body than where he perhaps should have been looking. Tom put a protective arm around Luna's waist, and attempted to hurry her out of the Great Hall.

"What are you doing, Tom?" she asked, stepping lightly out of his arm.

Another glance over his shoulder, and Tom saw Malfoy snickering at him. "Nothing. Let's go." He grabbed Luna's wrist and pulled her out of the Great Hall.

"You're hurting me," she said quietly once they had reached the Entrance Hall.

"What?" he said.

"My wrist," she replied. "You're hurting me."

"Oh!" He dropped her wrist from his hand, realizing it was the one he had bruised a few days ago.

"It's all right. It's getting better. It's only a little sore now," she said, gazing at him with huge eyes.

Tom stuttered for a moment. "It's – it's not all right, Luna, I shouldn't have done that to you. I – well, I mean, I guess I'm - "

"Its okay, Tom, I forgive you," she said, saving him at the last moment.

A look of self-disgust passed across his face. "Luna, I swear I'll never hurt you again."

She smiled. "All right," she said. "Can we go outside now?"

"Sure," he said, rolling his eyes.

They made their way outside and sat on the steps. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Luna said, "Why are you going to kill your dad, Tom?"

He tried to stand up and leave, but she grabbed him by his arm and yanked him down again with surprising force for her size. He gawked at her.

"You're going to talk to me, Tom Riddle. I'm tired of you running away every time I try to talk to you."

"I do not run away!" he spat.

"Yes, you do."

"I do not!"

"You do too."

He sighed heavily in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

"Don't you think that killing is wrong?" she asked.

"Not particularly, especially if its justified."

"Is there such a thing as justifiable murder?"

"Look, we're not going to agree on this."

"I just want to know what you think," she said.

He shrugged. "You know what I think."

She nodded slightly, and moved her gaze to stare out unseeingly at the grounds. "What do you want to do with your life?"

He smirked wickedly. This was a question he could answer easily, he'd thought about it so much before. "I want to be the most powerful wizard there ever was. I want power. I want a name that someday, wizards will fear to speak."

Luna watched him say this, and was alarmed at the way his eyes burned quietly, at the way his handsome features melted slightly and revealed the horrifying creature he would become. She scooted away from him a bit without realizing it, which brought him out of his reverie. "Why are you moving away?"

"Tom…you are a great wizard, you know."

His chest puffed up involuntarily.

"It's just…I know how you mean to obtain those goals. You don't have to tell me. And…don't you think that maybe it would be all right if you made yourself famous another way?"

He scowled. "I don't want to be _famous_. I want _power_."

"Hmm. Yes, well, there's other ways to obtain power. You could be in the Ministry of Magic, for instance, or – or pioneer a new field," she offered.

"Those are mere imitations of power for those who are too weak to seek it," he growled.

She sighed. "Well, I don't know why I put up with you at all," she said, speaking more to herself than to him. "You're absolutely the anti-Luna, you really are. I can't stand your beliefs; you really aren't very nice to me…."

With a sinking feeling in his chest, Tom said, "Don't put up with me, then," before standing up and moving away. He expected her to try to stop him again, he even wanted her to. But this time, she just let him go.

* * *

A few minutes after Tom had left, Luna stood up resignedly and reentered the castle. She wound her way up to Dumbledore's office and knocked politely on the door.

"Come in," a warm voice said.

She opened the door to find Professor Dumbledore bent over a large book that looked so ancient, it might fall apart at any moment.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood!" he said, looking up. "I was just studying a bit more on time travel!"

She tried to smile gratefully, but it ended up being more like an odd twitch. He immediately swept off to make tea, then came back, poured her a cup, seated himself, and indicated for her to sit as well. "What's bothering you, my dear?" he said, as he added several spoonfuls of sugar to his tea.

Luna took a calm sip of tea, thinking about how exactly to explain. She suddenly slammed her teacup down onto his desk, causing some tea to spill over the sides. "It's Tom Riddle!" she cried.

"Yes? And what of Mr. Riddle?" said Dumbledore, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"It's just – I try so hard, you know, I really do. I ask him about why he does the things he does, and I'm almost always nice to him, and even when he's a complete git to me, I still am nicer to him than I think anyone ever has been. And you know what he does? He storms off in a huff when I contradict him. He screams at me for the smallest things." She sighed exasperatedly, finally taking a breath.

Taking advantage of her momentary silence, Dumbledore said, "I do believe you are making more of an impact than you would imagine, Miss Lovegood."

"How?! He hasn't changed at all since that very first day I met him! He still storms around the castle, frightening everyone who crosses his path - "

"He hasn't changed at all?" Dumbledore interrupted.

Luna seethed in silence for a moment. "Well, I suppose he's changed a bit, but that bit is so miniscule, so tiny, it's rather pointless to even count it."

"I had believed that you understood the value of even the smallest things," he said quietly.

Gazing at the wizard, Luna once again sighed. "You're right. I just can't help but – but wonder if it even matters. It's not doing much for me, being his friend. I just get upset with him all the time. And then he acts like I'm more of a hindrance than a friend…."

"I'm sure you are more of a hindrance than a friend," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "but I think you will find, and he too, in time, that you are the best kind of hindrance there is."


	16. I Don't Like You, Part II

A/N: You can totally check out what day Valentine's Day was on in 1944, because I looked it up. Oh yeah, and there's a little bit of harsh language in this chapter (all from Tom, of course) so beware. Its only one word, but I don't want anyone to be upset with me. This chapter's a little fluffy too, I'm sorry.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, and I only admit that because I'm not clever enough to steal it all properly.

* * *

_"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in proportion."  
--Sir Francis Bacon, Of Beauty_

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: I Don't Like You Part II**

Tom remained in his dormitory for the rest of the afternoon, attempting and failing to read several books about the Dark Arts. After he threw the same book down for the fifth time, the book huffed indignantly and scuttled under his bed to hide from him. He rolled his eyes and threw himself on his bed.

He pulled open the drawer of his nightstand and withdrew his diary. He flipped through it for a moment until he found a blank page, dipped his quill in ink and prepared to write. His quill hovered over the paper for several minutes, but he couldn't think of anything to write. Finally, he threw his diary back in the drawer, jumped off the bed, and kicked one of the legs of the bed. This only succeeded in making him curse loudly and hop up and down on one foot, clutching his toes in his hands.

He looked at his watch and saw it was nearly time for dinner. He exited his dormitory. As he made his way into the common room, a Slytherin girl he had spoken to maybe twice before came up to him. "Hi, Tom," she said.

"Hello," he said, and tried to brush past her, but she blocked his way.

"You know, you really don't need to go to that absurd Lovegood girl, if that's what you want," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"There are plenty of girls in your own House – me included – who are more than willing to do you that favor," she continued.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," he spat, and once again tried to leave, but once again found her in his way. He rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

She winked slyly at him. "It's all right, Tom. You can play dumb. Just remember what I said." She flounced off.

"Malfoy!" he roared.

The pale blonde popped up from the couch. "Yeah?"

"Have you been telling people something about me and Luna?" he growled through gritted teeth.

Malfoy snickered. "Only that you've been hanging around her for a good shag."

Tom roared in frustration and plunged his hand into his robes for his wand, but by the time he had it out, Malfoy had scampered away.

In an even worse mood than before, Tom stormed from the common room, nearly flattening a couple of second years on his way. _Well, that's bloody wonderful. Now everyone thinks I'm shagging Luna._

He made it to the Great Hall with a scowl on his face. He piled food onto his plate and shoveled it down, not speaking to anyone. When he saw Luna get up from the Ravenclaw table to leave with her friends, he jumped up and waited for her in the Entrance Hall. As she was passing, he reached out and grabbed her arm.

She turned to look at him. "Hello, Tom."

"Luna, we need to talk."

Luna nodded to her friends to tell them to go ahead without her. When they were alone, Tom said, "Follow me."

He led her to the unused classroom by the Arithmancy room. Upon entering, Luna said, "Oh, dear. Nothing good ever happens in here."

"I stupidly swore to never hurt you again, remember?" When she nodded, he continued, "Malfoy's telling everyone that I'm just hanging around you to get into your pants."

Utterly nonplussed, Luna said, "Well, that's eloquent of you."

He clenched his hands into fists, fighting annoyance. "I'm serious, Luna."

A look of realization, shortly followed by disgust crossed her face. Her hands flew up to her mouth, and she squeaked, "Ew!"

Feeling oddly offended, Tom said, "What do you mean, 'ew?!'"

The disgust gave way to amusement. "Are you upset?"

"Yes, I'm upset! Most girls would kill to sleep with me," he cried.

"I'm not like most girls," she replied.

"You can say that again."

"And I'm not some sort of scarlet woman, Tom," she said.

He snorted. "Of course not. I bet you've never even been kissed before."

Her pale cheeks flushed pink. "What is it to you, anyway?" She stormed towards the door, but he caught her by the arm.

"Are you serious?" he continued viciously. "You've never been kissed before?" He burst out into malicious laughter.

"Well, I don't find it very funny."

He rolled his eyes. "Clearly. I, however, find it extremely amusing that you've never been kissed."

"Who says I haven't been kissed?" she said.

"You as much as admitted it," he sneered. "Why do you care so much? I've never seen you get upset about something so stupid before. Well, besides Blibbering Humdingers."

"Blibbering Humdingers aren't stupid!" she said shrilly. She collapsed onto the ground like a child. Tom noticed the way her lips formed a small pout.

"Calm down, Lovegood, honestly," Tom said, looking down at her. "You're throwing a tantrum."

Luna sighed, her face relaxed, and when she spoke, her voice had regained its usual dreamy quality. "I know. I've just been in an awful mood the last few days."

"Why?" he said.

"You," she said simply.

"What have I done?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

She shook her head. "I know you don't want to hear it Tom, but it's this whole thing about your father. It's just that it's all so wrong, and - "

"You're right, I don't want to hear it," Tom interrupted sullenly.

She huffed and blew a stray hair out of her face. "You're impossible."

"You like it," he sneered.

She stood up and stomped her foot. "I do not like it, Tom. It's quite possibly my least favorite of your many rather unappealing qualities."

"If you hate me so much, why do you hang around?" he snapped.

"The same could be asked of you," she said lightly.

They stared at each other for several minutes, each willing each other to be the first to look away. Finally, Tom cracked a wicked smile. "I can't believe you've never been kissed."

Luna crinkled her nose at him, which only made him laugh harder. She finally grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the classroom.

As they walked through the halls, they ran into Malfoy. Luna looked at him with distaste. "Despite what you seem so intent on believing, Tom is still not using me for physical gratification, Malfoy."

Tom snickered at the look on Malfoy's face, and added, "And by spreading rumors about me, you won't get any closer to getting 'physical gratification' from her, either."

Once again, Luna looked disgusted. "Ew!" she cried again.

Tom shot Malfoy a smug look before leading Luna away, leaving Malfoy looking extremely disconcerted.

* * *

January became February and the air steadily became less bitingly cold. The snow became frost once more. Othello still slept under the covers against Luna's warm body, but he no longer meowed complainingly every morning when she got up. 

The week before Valentine's Day and the castle was annoyingly (in Tom's opinion) giddy. Valentine's Day was on a Monday, but the students had a Hogsmeade visit the Saturday before. Tom had never gone to Hogsmeade on the Valentine's weekend, though plenty of willing girls were around, and he didn't plan to this year either.

Tom sat at the Slytherin table for breakfast on Tuesday. As usual, his eyes had found Luna quickly in the crowd. He had noticed that more and more frequently anymore, his eyes kept jumping back up to look at her without seeming to consult his brain first.

He watched he watch her friends. _That's usually what she does. She almost always watches them and rarely actually talks. She talks to me, though. Bloody hell, half the time I can't get her to shut up. _

_That Mudblood Litner must have said something funny…they're all laughing. _Luna smiled, and Tom felt something in his stomach lurch. _She really is sort of good-looking, if you ignore the way she dresses…especially when she smiles. Oh, hell, what am I doing? She's the biggest pain in the ass ever. This Valentine's Day shit must be getting to me._

He shook his head violently, as if attempting to make the rogue thought fly out of one of his ears. He stood up from the table, ignoring Nott, who had apparently been telling him a story the whole time and was now quite perturbed, and went into the Entrance Hall. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

A few minutes later, Luna and her friends came out. Luna waved when she saw him, and her friends giggled behind their hands. She came over, her friends once again moving on ahead.

"How are you?" she asked cheerfully.

"Fine," he replied, sounding not fine at all.

She raised her eyebrows. "You don't sound fine. You sound angry."

"Bloody hell, Lovegood, I'm fine. When are you going to learn to not stick your nose where it doesn't belong?"

"My nose does belong there, you're my friend," she said as though that should be obvious.

"You're such a pain in the ass," he snapped, voicing his earlier observation.

"You hush up. Do you want to go outside to talk?"

"I don't want to go anywhere with you."

"All right, we can talk here."

"I don't want to talk to you at all!" he cried, his anger flaring.

She cocked her head. "Why not?"

"Because I don't like you!" he bellowed and attempted to storm off.

"Don't you dare walk away from me _again_!" she shouted.

He whirled around to look at her.

"This whole 'I'm so angry, I'm going to scream and then leave' thing is getting really old," she said.

He watched the color once again rise in her cheeks. _I don't like her. I don't like her. _But no matter how many times he repeated that mantra, he knew that he liked Luna more than for his own good, and he didn't like it one bit.

"What on earth provoked you this time?" asked Luna.

He made a valiant attempt at a scowl. "Isn't your existence provocation enough?"

"Stop it!" People who were leaving the Hall were now beginning to stare.

_I don't like her. I don't like her at all. _"Oh, give it up, Lovegood!"

She finally truly lost her temper for the first time in her life. She was utterly screaming now. "You are dispicable! I take back everything I said about you! You are heartless and you always were!"

"Shut up, Lovegood!" he shouted back.

"You'll never amount to anything real because you haven't got anything real in you!"

"I mean it!"

"You'll just be all alone! Admit it!" she screeched.

"Quit!"

"You might have all the power in the world, Tom - "

"Seriously, I'm warning you!"

" - but you'll just be all alone! You'll always be all - "

But she never finished her sentence, because Tom had leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

* * *

_"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."  
--Ingrid Bergman_


	17. Boys Will Be Boys

**Disclaimer:** I'm having a strong sensation of déjà vu.

* * *

"_There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not."__  
--Francois de La Rouchefoucauld_

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Boys Will Be Boys**

From the way she suddenly tensed to the way she kept her eyes open, it was painfully obvious she had never been kissed before. Her mouth was stiff against his. He held the kiss for a long moment, only pulling back when one of the several students watching made a ridiculous growling noise.

Her eyes were wide, wider than usual, and her soft lips hung slightly apart. She stared at him, but said nothing.

His heart was pounding and he could feel its pulse throughout his body rather than just in his chest.

She finally spoke. "You kissed me."

He looked down at her and met her grey-blue eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted. "What was that for?"

"To get you to shut up," he said coolly.

Another eyewitness shouted, "Go, Tom! Go! Kiss her again!"

Luna ignored the shouter, and, taking Tom's arm, she dragged him outside the castle.

Looking into her face he saw confusion mostly, but also a little bit of something else that he couldn't put his finger on. He allowed her to lead him away from the castle and deep into the forest. For a moment he thought she was taking him to the thestrals again, but instead she stopped by a pair of large rocks in the shelter of the trees. She shoved him down on one of the stones, crossed her arms, and watched him.

After a moment, he said, "Are you really that offended by it?"

"Well, I don't know if offended is the right word. Annoyed, yes. Surprised, very much so. But I don't know about offended."

"It was just a kiss," he said, sneering.

"It was not just a kiss," she replied.

"Yes it was, I didn't put any rock in it or anything," he said innocently.

She wrinkled her nose. "You think you're so clever."

He nodded amiably.

"I don't appreciate you going to such lengths just to get me to shut up," she said, eyeing him.

"How else am I supposed to get you to be quiet? Nothing else I've tried so far has worked that well."

"You wasted my first kiss!"

"I what? Wasted your first kiss? Are you kidding me, Lovegood? It's not a big deal," he said.

"It's a big deal to me, Tom, and you knew it was and you still had to go off and make it a personal vendetta to ruin it for me," she insisted.

He was upset by her accusations. "I did not make it a personal vendetta to ruin your first kiss! You aren't that important!"

"Oh, well that's even better, then! You did it all on a whim!" she said, her voice rising.

He stood up from the boulder and paced back and forth furiously. "Did it ever occur to you that I kissed you because I wanted to?" he snapped.

"Why would you _want _to kiss me?" she asked.

He stared at her. "Don't be thick, you're a Ravenclaw."

She paused. "If you mean what I think you mean, you're either going through a metamorphoses into a different person or you're just trying to drag out the joke for all it's worth."

"Well, it is a bit of the second," he said maliciously.

"I knew it." She sighed. "Tom, it's really not nice to try and play with my emotions, you know."

He scowled. "So you mean to tell me that you didn't like me kissing you?"

She shrugged. "Not particularly."

"What does that mean?" he asked with wounded pride.

"I mean, I guess I subconsciously always imagined that you were a really great kisser," she said matter-of-factly.

"I am a great kisser," he snapped.

A wicked grin crossed her face and it looked completely unnatural. "Prove it."

A burning feeling spread down to his toes. _Did she just say that? Yes, she did, look at the way she's looking at you. Bloody hell, Tom, now she'll be chasing after you. Now you've got Loony Lovegood not only as your damn friend, but now she wants you. Great. _

"Are you serious?" he asked, stepping closer to her in spite of himself.

She stepped into him, her face inches from his. Laughter danced behind her eyes. "Nope," she said suddenly, and prodded him in the gut.

He stepped away from her and scowled. "Let's just pretend that didn't happen."

"What didn't happen?"

"Exactly," he replied.

She looked at him quizzically. "No, I mean it. What didn't happen?"

He rolled his eyes.

* * *

The next day, the teasing began from the other students. Tom managed to quell most of them with a glare, but Luna could not escape it. Everywhere she went, girls either gave her the evil eye or bombarded her with questions, and the boys were suddenly looking at her differently. They all figured if _Tom Riddle _had kissed her, she must have something going on that they just hadn't noticed yet. Of course, she did, but not in the way they imagined.

The first time Luna allowed herself to be alone with Tom again (or perhaps it was vice versa) was the Friday before Valentine's Day, and the day before the Hogsmeade visit. It was after Arithmancy and the two of them meandered to the library without speaking.

Upon entering the library, they took their seats at their usual table, continuing to ignore one another at all costs. Finally, Luna said, "So what is it now? Are we not friends?"

Tom glanced up at her nonchalantly. "Why do you ask?"

"You don't talk to me anymore. Not really." She never looked away from his face.

He shrugged. "That's your own issue, Lovegood."

"It's Luna," she added without hesitation, "and it is not my issue. You're the one who started it."

"I started it? Really, now, let's not point fingers like five year old children," he said, smiling wickedly and swinging his feet onto the table.

"You kissed me," she said, as though this should explain everything.

"Indeed. Well spotted."

"Thomas, stop. I just want to talk to you," she said.

"Let's talk then," he replied, placing his hands behind his head and shutting his eyes.

"Conversations tend to involve more than one person, Tom."

He peeked at her with one eye. "I'm listening."

She sighed. "Everything seems different now."

"To you, maybe, but that's just because you've never been kissed before."

"So you really meant nothing by that kiss?" she demanded.

He snorted. "Of course not."

"Of course not," she repeated. She then stood and said, "I'm going up to my dorm before dinner. I'll see you later."

He didn't protest, and she didn't expect him to, but he did watch her as she left.

* * *

Luna drifted up to Ravenclaw tower. _Thank goodness he didn't mean anything by it. That would be terrible. I mean, honestly. The Dark Lord having a soft spot for me? Completely ridiculous. Not to mention treacherous and a little terrifying. Thank goodness. And to think for a moment I almost believed he…but no, he didn't. So it's all okay._

Another voice piped up in the back of her head. _If it's all okay, why did you tummy drop to your toes when he said it didn't mean anything?_

_Because I'm going completely barmy, _the first voice insisted, and she shook her head vigorously before entering the common room and collapsing on the couch next to Cat and Tristy.

She was only shaken from her thoughts when Cat's voice interrupted, saying, "All right, it's time to spill, Luna. What's going on with you and Tom?"

Luna attempted a smile. "Nothing, Cat, don't be silly."

Cat was about to press her, but Tristy shushed her, having seen the pathetic twitch that Luna thought passed for a smile. Tristy quickly changed the direction of conversation towards classes and managed to keep Cat at bay until it was time for dinner.

On the way out of the common room, Luna took Tristy's hand briefly and squeezed it, sending her a smile, before reverting back to her dreamlike state.

As usual, Luna ate her meal in near silence. She left the Great Hall before any of her friends had finished, and did not notice Tom follow her out.

In the Entrance Hall, she turned at the sound of her name. "Luna!" he called.

She appraised him openly. "Yes, Tom?"

"Come with me," he said, and took her hand without waiting for her reply and began to lead her down to the darkness of the dungeons, where there were no students wandering the halls. Finally he stopped and turned to look at her. "What's the matter with you?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows slightly. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me," he spat. "What's the matter with you? You've been all upset since the library."

"No, I haven't," she lied. "I think you're imagining that."

He glared at her. "I'm not imagining it. You should know better by know than to lie to me."

She shook her head at him and turned to walk away. In a fury, Tom whipped out his wand, pointed at her retreating back, and shouted a stinging hex.

A loud bang and a moment later, Tom was thrown several feet backwards and landed in a crumpled heap as his spell rebounded upon him rather than hitting Luna. Luna turned in surprise to see a very disgruntled, angry, and confused Tom struggling to his feet and dusting himself off. "What the hell did you do to me, Lovegood?" he snarled.

"I didn't do anything to you, all I know is – oh!" She suddenly burst into laughter and doubled up from the force of her mirth.

More annoyed than ever, Tom scowled. "Why are you laughing?"

"You did it to yourself!" she squeaked between giggles. "You swore you'd never hurt me again, remember?"

The realization dawned on Tom, and he roared with rage and furiously punched the stone wall nearest him. Instantly regretting that decision, he cursed loudly and shook his now aching hand violently. "Damn it, Lovegood!" he roared.

Her laughter subsided, and she said, "Serves you right for trying to hex me."

Tom scowled at her some more. Choosing to attack her dignity in an attempt to regain his own, he said, "At least I'm not the one who got all caught up in a kiss that didn't mean a thing."

She had completely stopped smiling now. "Why do you care so much about that kiss if it didn't mean a thing, Tom?"

"Because it's a jolly good time making fun of you for it."

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "If I didn't know any better, I would say it did mean something and you just don't want to admit it."

"Well, then its good you know better, then, isn't it?" he said, clearly annoyed at the turn this had taken.

Luna watched him carefully, and realized that he had been untruthful when he had said the kiss meant nothing. "Would it be so terrible if I kissed you again, Tom?" she asked suddenly.

He looked at her sharply, smirking. "If you want me so bad," he said, getting closer to her, "all you have to do is say so."

She backed away from him. "I never said I wanted you. That was a purely hypothetical question."

He sneered. "Do you even believe in hypothetical questions?"

She took another step back. "Er, no," she said, feeling angry with herself at what she had gotten herself into. "I don't, but that's not really the point, is it?"

"No, I suppose not," he sniggered.

She felt her back touch the stone wall. His face was inches from hers now. She looked desperately for a way to escape but saw too late that he was too close now.

"There's no need to look like a trapped animal," he said, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.

Realizing she indeed was trapped, she sighed. "Well, get it over with, then."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Get what over with?"

"Whatever you're going to do, whether it be mock me, or kiss me, or - "

"Kiss you?" he whispered, his eyes glinting wickedly. "Do you really think I'm going to kiss you?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't know, I was just saying…." Her voice trailed off.

He reached up a hand and traced her jaw line with a long, cool finger. "Just saying what?"

"Nothing," she replied, shuddering involuntarily.

* * *

As Luna struggled with her dilemma, Tom struggled with one of his own. He was trying to keep a calm and nonchalant exterior, and it was obviously working from the way she was quailing beneath him, but inside he was fighting a very large monster that made his heart beat uncomfortably quickly and made it far too difficult to breathe.

He smiled. "Sometimes, you talk too much, Lovegood." She made a strange noise that seemed to be an attempt to reply, and he noticed the way her breath was coming in shorter gasps than usual. Deciding that staying any longer could be disastrous, he winked maliciously at her before turning away and leaving her alone.

He smirked to himself, and tried to ignore the way his knees suddenly felt decidedly like jelly.


	18. I Hope You Dance

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Or so I'm told.

* * *

"_I hope you never lose your sense of wonder  
You get your fill to eat  
But always keep that hunger  
May you never take one single breath for granted  
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed  
I hope you still feel small  
When you stand beside the ocean  
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens  
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance _

_I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance  
Never settle for the path of least resistance  
Living might mean taking chances  
But they're worth taking  
Loving might be a mistake  
But it's worth making  
Don't let some hell bent heart  
Leave you bitter  
When you come close to selling out  
Reconsider  
Give the heavens above  
More than just a passing glance_

_And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance  
I hope you dance.  
--Leann Womack, "I Hope You Dance"_

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: I Hope You Dance**

Luna lay in bed Friday night after Tom had left her alone in the dungeons. _Oh my. I can't stand him. Yes I can. No I can't. He's awful. He's cruel and cold and awful. I can't stand him._

_I can't believe he did that to me. He made me think he was going to kiss me again. Stupid prat. I'm a stupid prat. I actually believed he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to, too. I don't understand it. I can't stand him._

_He was so close to me. He was so close. He smells so nice. His eyes frighten me. I feel like I'm falling into them. I wish I was home. No, I don't. I don't want to go back. Yes, I do. I hate this. I want to go home. I don't belong here. I don't belong with Tom Riddle. I belong with Harry, Neville, Ginny and the rest of them._

_Cat was right. He might be good-looking, but he's absolutely rotten. To the core. I can't stand him. Ooh, I hope I'm right._

* * *

Tom lay in bed Friday night after he had left Luna alone in the dungeons. _She's obnoxious. I can't stand her. Yes I can. No I can't. She's annoying. She is stupid and prying and annoying. I can't stand her._

_I can't believe that. She actually thought I was going to kiss her again. Silly girl. I'm a stupid prat. I actually wanted to kiss her. I'm going completely off my rocker. I don't understand it. I can't stand her._

_She was so close to me. She was so close. She smells so nice. Her eyes frighten me. I feel like I'm drowning in them. I wish I'd never met her. No, I don't. I'm glad I met her. I don't know what I would do without her. She is all I have. I wish I had never met her. I hate this. I'm not meant for this. I'm not meant for Luna Lovegood. I'm meant for great things, things no wizard has ever dreamt of before, but not for Luna Lovegood._

_Malfoy was right. I should have just scared her off. Then I would be rid of her. I can't stand her. I had damn well better be right._

* * *

"Do you realize I've been here over five months now?" Luna asked as she stuck her wand behind her ear. She and Tom were in the Entrance Hall after breakfast on Saturday morning. Othello had his head poked out from her pocket. 

"Yes, how fascinating," Tom replied dryly, leaning back against the wall.

Oblivious to his tone, Luna continued, "It's just…five months is such a very long time. And you know what's silly? I'm not even sure I want to go back anymore."

Tom glanced at her and noticed that she wasn't really talking to him, so much as to herself. She was staring off into space with her hands clasped in front of her, and she was rocking slowly back and forth from the heels to the balls of her feet. He said nothing.

"When I first got here, all I could think about was getting back, but now…oh, I don't know. Life is much more pleasant here," she said vaguely.

"How so?"

"Oh, there aren't any wars."

"What wars?"

She ignored him. "I needn't worry about such serious things. All I have to worry about now is you." She chuckled to herself, and looked at him with huge eyes. "Of course, back home all I had to worry about is you, too! Isn't that strange?" She didn't wait for an answer, but began to drift away.

Tom caught up to her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, Thomas."

Tom continued to wheedle at her to try and get more information out of her, but as she was either the only person able to resist him or she simply didn't understand what he was doing, she added nothing to cure his curiosity. Tom decided to give up for the time being, but shelved it away in his mind for later.

"Do you want to go into Hogsmeade today?" she asked.

He snorted. "Now you're asking me on a date."

"No, I was just wondering."

"Well, no, I don't want to go into Hogsmeade today," he replied.

She shrugged. "All right. What do you want to do?"

"What makes you think I want to spend today with you?" he shot at her. Othello hissed at him, as he usually did when Tom's tone towards Luna offended the kneazle.

She looked at him curiously. "Almost no one but the first and second years is going to be in the castle today. So, unless you want to be alone, then I assumed you would be with me today."

He glared at her, but he knew she was right. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

"I just asked you that," she replied matter-of-factly.

Rolling his eyes, he racked his brain. He suddenly smirked and said, "Follow me."

Luna obligingly trotted along side him up several flights of stairs until they were on the seventh floor of the castle. Tom stopped walking in front of a portrait of Barnabas the Barmy.

"That always was one of my favorite portraits," Luna remarked, watching a troll attempt to pirouette.

"Right. Well, see this stretch of wall?" Tom asked, pointing at the wall opposite the portrait.

"Ooh, yes, Tom, good idea." Luna thought carefully for a moment, and then walked back and forth three times. A door appeared, and Luna grabbed Tom by the hand and led him through it.

"How did you know…?" Tom stammered.

"I've been here before," she replied simply. Suddenly she squealed with delight and ran over to a swing set in the middle of the room. Looking around the room, Tom saw the rest was blank and empty, and the floor was covered in soft grass.

She set Othello down carefully on the ground and pulled a ball with a bell out for him. She rolled it across the ground, and Othello went bounding through the grass after it. Luna then sat herself onto one of the swings.

"This is what you wanted?" Tom said skeptically. "A swing set and that's it?"

Luna nodded happily and began to swing. Soon, she was flying through the air, up, up, and then backwards. She giggled as her long hair flew about her face. She let the swing lose momentum until it was almost still. "Come swing with me, Tom," she said.

Tom, who had yet to move from the doorway, snorted. "No, I think I'll pass."

"Suit yourself." She shrugged and began to swing again, but not as high as the previous time. "Are you still planning on killing your dad, Tom?"

"Damn, I thought you'd finally let that one go."

"Why would I let it go? It's rather important," she replied.

"Lovegood. Why is it such a big deal to you? You never knew my father. There's no reason it should matter to you," he said.

"It matters to me because I'd hate for you to keep going down the path you've started. It isn't too late to turn around."

He eyed her suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

She took one hand of the chain of the swing to brush her hair out of her face to look at him. "I know this wouldn't be your first murder, Tom."

He crossed quickly to her and, grabbing the chains of her swing, forced her to a stop. "What do you mean?" he hissed.

"I mean I know about the Chamber of Secrets. I know it was you." She gazed at him with large eyes, and looked completely unafraid.

He leaned closer to her, never taking his hands from the chains. "I suppose your precious Dumbledore told you his suspicions, then? And you believe them?"

"Dumbledore told me nothing," she replied.

"Then how do you know?" he growled, shaking the chains violently once, causing Luna to nearly fall out of the swing and Othello to come running over to see what was going on.

"Does it matter? I haven't told anyone. Besides you, of course," she said, her face expressionless.

They were almost nose to nose. "If you know I'm already a murderer, what does one more on my hands matter?"

She raised her eyebrows. "It would never be just one more, Tom."

He was shaking in fury and terror. "It is too late to turn around. It's been too late for a very long time now."

"No, it isn't," she insisted.

"How do you know? How the hell do you know?" he screamed into her face.

She released the chains and reached up her hands. Cupping his face in her hands, she said, "I know because I love you."

Tom froze. "What?" he snapped.

She cocked her head. "You heard me."

His mind felt like it was in overload. "How could you love me?" he stammered.

"I don't know," she said honestly.

They stared at each other for what felt to Tom like an eternity. _I don't love her. I don't love her. I don't. Shit. _He looked into her eyes, and what he saw terrified him. Her eyes were pouring out love. No one had ever looked at him that way. It was awful. It was horrible.

He swallowed hard. "Don't say that."

"But if you know when I'm lying, Tom, what good will it do?" she asked.

His face was contorting, trying to find an accurate expression to show all his emotions.

She was pulling his face down towards hers. His mind was telling him that he shouldn't let her, but his body seemed incapable of following through on the directions.

For just the briefest of moments, Luna pressed her lips against his.

"You don't have to love me, Tom. Just know that I love you." She stood up from the swing. She moved as though to go around him, but he suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him again. He again saw that awful love in her eyes.

"Don't love me. Just don't," he insisted.

She looked incredibly somber. "Honestly, Thomas, if I could change it, I would. I don't want to love you." Her eyes were full of tears.

"So don't!" he cried and shook her by the shoulders.

"I can't help it!" she said, a few tears leaking out and trailing down her cheeks.

"I'm not meant for this. I'm not."

"And I don't belong with you!" she said, stomping her foot and crying freely.

Tom's heart lurched at the sight of her crying. _She's crying because of me._ _I don't love her. Shit!_

He took his hands from her quickly as though burned and backed away.

"No, don't leave me," she said, reaching out to him.

He stopped moving, and Luna took this as an invitation. She flew into him, burying her face into his chest and throwing her arms around his neck. He remained stiff for a moment, but then – _Shit. I love her._

He buried his face in her hair and wrapped his arms around her awkwardly. He was unsure how to do this, but was encouraged when she held him even tighter. He was infinitely pleased with himself when she muttered, "I love you. I love you."

Suddenly, they both broke away, stammering, "I can't do this," and Luna adding, "Not with you."

They stared at each other. Luna moved first, taking him in again. How long they stood that way, they didn't know. Othello curled himself around their legs, purring wildly as though he had known this would happen from the beginning.

* * *

A few hours later, Luna opened her eyes to find herself lying in the grass next to Tom. Othello had squished himself in between them, just to remind them that he was terribly important. She didn't know when they had fallen asleep, or even when they had laid down, but she gently shook Tom awake. His eyes fluttered open, and he stared at her, his expression unreadable. 

Without speaking, they both stood up and left the Room of Requirement. They went outside and sat down on the steps. It was late in the afternoon, nearing twilight. For a few minutes they sat in silence, watching students return from Hogsmeade. Tom glanced up at the sky, and saw angry storm clouds forming. "It looks like it's going to rain," he remarked. _What the hell? I don't talk about the weather. _He scowled.

Indeed, a few minutes later, large, fat raindrops began to fall down. Several of the girls headed back screamed and ran into the castle. Luna, on the other hand, stood up and walked out into the grass as the rain began to pour more heavily. She spread her arms out wide and turned her face to the sky, closing her eyes and letting the drops of water run down her face, as other people rushed past her to take shelter inside the school.

Tom watched her in the safety underneath the eave above the doors. She began to spin slowly on the spot, but after a few moments, she began to dance without any music guiding her, and oblivious to the stares she was eliciting from the other students.

Upon her face was a look of pure joy, and she stopped dancing for a moment. She walked over to Tom and pulled him to his feet before he could protest.

"What are you doing, Luna?" he snapped.

"Dance with me." She had his hands in her own and was trying to pull him out into the rain.

"No," he replied, and whipped his hands away from her. "Why would I want to get soaked?"

"Don't you love the rain?" she asked, undaunted.

"No, I do not."

She furrowed her brows at him. "Tom. Dance." She took his hands in her own once again and led him out. She firmly placed one of his hands on her waist and took the other in her hand, and began to waltz.

Tom attempted to resist at first, but after looking into her eyes, and seeing the terrible love that he had seen earlier, he gave in to her and danced in the rain with her.


	19. Valentine's Day

**Disclaimer:** Pick your favorite disclaimer so far and copy and paste it here.

* * *

_"Dignity and love do not blend well, nor do they continue long together."  
_--Ovid

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Valentine's Day**

"I've been thinking about what you said." They were in potions class, so Tom was talking at Luna over his simmering cauldron. As it was Valentine's Day, Professor Slughorn had decided to get into the spirit of things and have his class make Amortentia potion.

"Really?" Luna said politely.

"Yes. You said there were wars where you came from. Were you talking about the muggle war?"

"No," she replied.

Tom narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, then what were you talking about? There aren't any wizard wars going on."

"Oh. I…yes, I meant the muggle war, Thomas," she said, never taking her eyes off the page of her book with the recipe on it.

"You did not. For someone who doesn't like dishonesty, you sure lie a lot, Luna," he snapped, dumping a spoonful of beetle's eyes into the potion.

Luna looked up at him. "You wouldn't like the truth if I told you."

"You wouldn't know, seeing as you've never tried it," he replied sulkily.

A slight smile crossed Luna's lips. "You're pouting."

"I am not!"

"Yes. Yes, you are," she said, taking a goat hoof and beginning to grind it into a powder.

Tom was silent for a moment, watching Luna struggle to grind the hoof. He smirked at her putting all her weight down to crush it and having nothing happen. Finally, she looked up at him. "I suppose you don't want to help?"

He sniggered, but took the hoof from her and quickly ground it up. He dumped the fine powder into their cauldron and the potion inside at once turned an intense fuchsia. Tom scowled.

"Um, Tom, isn't it supposed to have a 'mother-of-pearl sheen?'" Luna asked, stirring the potion questioningly with a ladle.

"Yes, so what did you do?"

Luna raised her eyebrows. "How do you know it was me? It may have been something you did."

"I always make my potions perfectly, Lovegood. It must have been you. Either way, it's too late to fix it now. We'll just have to take a lower grade."

A moment later, Professor Slughorn bumbled over to their cauldron. Normally, he only glanced inside to make sure that it was flawless as usual. He did the same, only the color of the potion inside caused him to double-take. "Er, Mr. Riddle, and Miss Lovegood…what's happened to your potion?" he stammered.

"I don't know, sir," Tom said earnestly.

Slughorn appeared to recover, and he cleared his throat before saying, "Ah, yes. Who was the one who put in the Ashwinder eggs?"

Tom slapped his forehead. "I was _supposed _to put the eggs in, sir. I forgot."

"Tom? Oh, well. Yes, well, that was the error in the potion."

"It was my fault?" Tom said, still in disbelief.

"Er, yes, it would seem so. Just add the eggs now; the potion will come out all right, just not as powerful. Then put some in a vial and bring it to my desk." Suddenly, Slughorn's eyes brightened and a smile played across his face. "No worries, my dear boy, little mistakes are common by young men when they have other things on their mind." Slughorn winked pointedly at Luna before bustling off to the next pair of students.

Tom avoided eye contact with Luna as he corrected their potion and took a sample to Slughorn. The bell rang, signaling that class was over. Tom begrudgingly walked out of the classroom with Luna by his side.

"I do hope you won't be in a sour mood for the rest of the day," Luna said as she drifted alongside him.

Tom made a grunting noise.

"What did the potion smell like to you, Tom?" she asked, switching topics.

"What do you mean?" he growled.

"Well, Amortentia smells differently to everyone, depending on what they are attracted to," she said.

He rolled his eyes. "What did yours smell like, Lovegood?"

"Ooh, to me it smells like raspberries, Christmas trees, and…." Her voice trailed off.

"And what?" he prompted.

She smiled sadly. "And like you smell when you're really close to me."

Tom's heart did a flip flop, but he didn't let it show on his exterior. "Interesting," he said.

She shrugged. "Anyhow, what did yours smell like?"

"I don't smell anything," he told her.

She cocked her head. "Really?"

"Yes, Lovegood. Really."

"Oh," she said, her face falling. "Well, I've got to go to the library for a while to do some homework. I'll see you at dinner." Without waiting for his reply, she scampered off towards the library.

Tom watched her leave. Once she was out of sight, he made his way to the Slytherin common room. He ignored the students who greeted him, and went directly to his dorm room. He locked the door behind him so that none of the other boys could interrupt him.

He knelt down on the floor and looked under his bed. There was his diary, several huge books about the various dark arts, and a very small package. It was the last thing that he removed from beneath his bed.

Sitting on his bed, he opened the box.

* * *

Luna sat at a table in the library, but she wasn't working. She was doodling on a piece of parchment that was supposed to be her Charms essay. After a while of this, she finally sighed heavily and decided to put her things in her dormitory and then head to dinner. 

She gathered her things, slung her bag over her shoulder, and made her way up to Ravenclaw tower. She had deposited her things and was once again leaving the common room when she ran into Cat and Tristy.

"Hi Luna," Tristy said, offering a small smile.

Cat frowned a little bit and said, "Hey."

Luna smiled warmly. "How are you? I don't talk with you as much anymore."

"Yes, we've noticed," Cat replied dryly. She looked critically at Luna for another moment, before sighing and saying, "Look, Luna, we miss you. You're hardly around anymore. We see you in class and things, but you don't really talk to us. It's like…it's like you're so wrapped up in Tom that you have no time for us anymore."

"Oh!" Luna felt her eyes grow wide. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even realize – I'm sorry!"

Cat smiled sadly, and Tristy squeezed Luna's hand briefly. "It's all right, Luna," Tristy said. "We just miss you."

"I didn't really realize that you would miss me. I didn't even realize I was doing it! I'm sorry," Luna stammered.

"It's all right, just quit it," Cat said, finally grinning.

Luna nodded emphatically. "Oh, yes. Absolutely."

Tristy giggled. "Shall we go to dinner?"

The girls headed down to the Great Hall. Throughout dinner, they talked enthusiastically as if they hadn't seen each other in ages. Luna didn't even notice that Tom wasn't at dinner.

Luna, Tristy, and Cat were leaving the Great Hall when Luna caught sight of Tom sulking in a corner of the Entrance Hall. She signaled to her friends, who rolled their eyes but smiled, and she went over to him.

"Hello, Tom," she said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Tom seemed edgy and irritable. _Or rather, _Luna thought, _more irritable than usual._

"Did you get anything to eat?" she asked.

"No. I didn't feel like eating," he replied.

Luna noticed that his hand was in his pocket and he seemed to be fingering something inside it. "What's the matter, Tom?"

"What? Nothing. Nothing's the matter," he snapped.

"Oh. All right, then," she said. "Well, I'm going to go to bed, then, if nothing's the matter." She turned and started to walk away.

"No!"

She turned back.

"No," he muttered. "I have something for you."

Luna raised her eyebrows. "A present?"

"Yes, a present," he snapped.

"Is it like the last present you gave me? Because that wasn't really a present at all, as you told me," she said, chuckling, remembering the kneazle who was curled up on her bed in her dorm.

He scowled. "No, this is a real present. I actually got it while – while thinking of you." As he said this, he had a look on his face as though he had just tasted something sour.

Luna smiled. "Well, what is it then?"

Tom shuffled his feet, causing Luna to giggle. "What are you laughing at?" he spat.

"Nothing. What's my present?" Luna persisted.

"It's not a big deal. It's just something I want you to have," he said, taking whatever it was he was playing with out of his pocket. It fit inside his closed fist, so she couldn't see what it was.

"Well, show me!" she said, growing impatient.

He wavered for a moment on the brink of giving her the gift, before shoving it into her hands and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Happy Valentine's Day, Lovegood."

In her hands was a gold chain, much like the one that had gotten her into this whole mess. At the end of this one was a single stone in the shape of an oval. The stone was shining a bright red hue and it was warm. Luna felt her jaw drop as she gazed at it.

"It glows red whenever we are both thinking about each other. It doesn't work if you're just thinking of me, or – or the other way around," she vaguely heard him say. "It was just an ordinary necklace, but I enchanted it."

Luna tore her eyes away from the necklace and looked up at Tom. She noticed how his usually sleek black hair was mussed up as though he had been running his fingers through it too much, and she noticed how his face was firm, but his eyes were giving away his feelings. She smiled. "Is this your way of saying that you love me without actually saying it?"

Tom's face twitched oddly, and he said, "I told you it was no big deal."

Luna's smile widened into a grin. "You don't give presents to anybody, Tom. It is a big deal."

"It is not. I simply thought you might enjoy it, so I decided to give it to you."

"On Valentine's Day?" she asked, still grinning. "Ooh, Tom, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a soft spot for me!"

"You're completely barmy," he snapped, looking down his nose at her.

"You love me, don't you, Tom? You love me!" she insisted, beginning to dance on her feet a bit.

He turned to walk away, saying, "Complete pain in the ass. That's what you are."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, Thomas, stop it. You have to at least help me put it on."

He turned back to her. "Fine. Are you done being obnoxious?" he snarled.

"Never," she giggled, and held the necklace out to him.

He snatched it from her angrily. She turned her back to him and moved her masses of hair out of the way. He put the necklace around her neck and clasped it. He felt her shiver as he touched the sensitive skin on the back of her neck. He moved closer to her, putting his hands on her waist. She tensed, and he moved his face close to her neck. He inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent. He gently kissed her neck. "That's what my Amortentia potion smells like."


	20. Everything He's Not

**Warning: Please notice the change in rating. This chapter is very sexual, but not smutty. But don't read it if it bothers you. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters or anything else associated with Harry Potter. I do, however, enjoy playing with them and putting them in compromising situations.

* * *

_"Every time I hold you I begin to understand, that everything about you tells me you're my best friend."  
_--Anonymous

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Everything I'm Not**

The next few days leading up to Friday blended together for Tom. Each second was an hour and each day was a minute. Time was a flimsy idea that held no real significance to him any longer.

The other students of Hogwarts all knew within a few hours that Tom had given Luna a necklace, and they all simply assumed that the two were together. There were brief plots by some of the Slytherin girls to knock Luna off, but Tom put an end to those fairly quickly (and threateningly).

Tom still did not hold Luna's hand in public. He rarely kissed her, and he had yet to say that he loved her, yet Luna did not need these things to let her know. She knew in the way the oval stone around her neck was constantly red.

He was not gentle. His words were still biting, sarcastic, and often downright cruel. He was not a lover, nor did he let his care for her show on his face. Only when someone else would attack Luna, be it a mocking remark or an annoyed glare, would anyone have guessed that he gave a damn about her at all.

On Friday, Luna had awoken knowing that it would be a special day. She took special care getting ready that morning. She had tried to do something with her hair, but after Othello repeatedly attacked her hair and destroyed whatever she had done, she gave up. She did, however, wear her favorite blouse and blue skirt, as well as her radish earrings and a pair of teal stockings.

Tom was not a morning person, and therefore did not say much when he saw her before breakfast. Luna mildly thought that Tom would have been better on a nocturnal schedule. During breakfast, Luna's friends, who had been peppering her with questions for the last few days, resumed their interrogation. Luna escaped much of it after breakfast when she headed to Ancient Runes with Cat and Lorraine.

The day breezed by up until Arithmancy. Tom had sufficiently woken up at this point to notice that Luna had gone all out when getting dressed.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked as she plopped into the seat beside him.

"Clothing," she replied, furrowing her brow with a look as though she was concerned for his mental health. "Isn't that what people normally wear?"

Tom scowled as the professor walked in to begin the class.

After Arithmancy, the two split up, Tom retreating to his dormitory, and Luna drifting off in the general direction of the library.

She had almost reached the library when she heard a voice calling her name. "Miss Lovegood!"

She turned to see Professor Dumbledore walking up the corridor towards her. She smiled. "Hello, Professor. That was a very interesting lesson, yesterday."

"Thank you, my dear. Now, will you please come with me to my office? I believe I have made progress on the reverse time-turner," he said, peering at her over his half-moon spectacles.

Luna's smile faded. "Oh. Yes, of course."

She followed him up flights of stairs and through corridors until they had reached his office. He immediately began to bustle about to make tea, and Luna found herself once again in the chair on the opposite side of his desk. A strange silver instrument was resting on the polished surface of the desk, and Luna prodded it questioningly.

Dumbledore placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her and took a long sip from his own cup. "Now, then," he began. "I have not yet perfected this time-turner, and of course, there's no real way to test it." He chuckled. "However, I am getting quite close, I believe, to figuring it out."

Luna forced a smile. "That's so wonderful, sir. Thank you."

"Is it?" he asked.

Luna felt her head nodding. "Oh, yes."

Dumbledore watched her for a long moment, then continued. "I think that if all goes as planned, we'll have you back to your own time within the next week or so."

"That soon?" Luna stammered.

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "I have been working diligently on this project for several months now."

"Of – of course, sir. And I thank you for it. I hope you know that I truly am grateful," she said earnestly.

He smiled sadly at her from over his teacup. "You are a million times welcome, Miss Lovegood."

He stood to show her to the door. "I will let you know as soon as I have succeeded."

"Thank you again, sir," she said, before opening the door, exiting, and closing it again quietly behind her.

Dumbledore stared at the shut door for a moment. "If I were a fool, I'd let her stay in a heartbeat," he muttered, before turning back to his office.

Luna walked towards the Great Hall, deciding to pick up an early dinner so that she could retire to her dormitory. She was on the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall when she spotted Tom about to enter the Great Hall.

"Tom!" she called, and hurried down the stairs. She threw her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could.

Stunned, he awkwardly patted her on the back. "What's happened?"

She buried her face in his chest. She was shuddering, but not crying. Finally, she said, "Let's not go to dinner. I just want to be with you."

"But what's the matter?" he pressed.

She shook her head. "Don't. Please just kiss me. Right now."

He briefly considered arguing with her, but instead just put his hands onto her waist, tucked a hair behind her ear, and kissed her.

After the kiss had been broken, she once again buried her face into his chest.

Tom was vaguely aware that students who were filing into the Great Hall were staring at them, but he was mostly focused upon the way Luna's body was still shaking like a leaf in his arms.

She pulled back slightly to look him in the face. "I just want to be with you," she repeated.

Tom still had his hands on Luna's waist. Without saying a word, she placed one of her hands over his, intertwined the fingers, and began leading him away. It was a while before he realized where she was taking him.

She released his hand by the picture of the ballet-dancing trolls. She silently walked back and forth in front of the opposing wall until a door appeared. Luna smiled, took Tom's hand again, and led him through the door.

Inside the Room of Requirement was a cozy sitting room with a roaring fireplace. There were a few squat, squishy chairs, and one large, inviting sofa.

Luna drifted over to the sofa and sat primly down. She looked back towards Tom and patted the seat next to her. For once in his life, he did as he was told, and crossed the room to sit beside her.

She curled her legs beneath her and leaned against Tom's shoulder. He allowed this, and he mindlessly twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers.

Tom gazed into the fire and was lost among its flames. What was this feeling? Was it love, as Luna suggested? Tom had always considered himself immune to the utterly human feeling of love. Women had always been another tool at his disposal to get what he wanted. Luna was a danger from the start. He had known it from the moment he had met her. Yet his magical abilities, his mind, his perseverance seemed to have no power next to her.

When she touched him, he felt like that boy of many years ago, the one who had crawled beneath his bed in the orphanage, clutching a thin blanket around him; the one who was lonely and afraid; the one who had cried the only time in his life when he had realized that this was all the world offered him; the one who had bitterly believed that love still existed, just not for him. When she held him, he was a child again.

After several quiet minutes, Tom turned his face away from the fire to look at the small girl next to him. The stone around her neck was a gleaming, brilliant red. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and his, hiding the boundary where she ended and he began. Her eyes were shut, but she was not sleeping. Tom noticed the way her long lashes gently rested upon her cheeks.

A million thoughts raced through his mind. He was still convinced that this would never last. He would never change, could never change, and she certainly would not go along with his ways. _Tomorrow, _he thought. _I'll fight it tomorrow._

He pulled her closer to him. Her eyes fluttered open and looked up into his face. He once again felt as though he were drowning in her eyes, as though they had invisible hands that had reached out and were making it difficult for him to breathe. It certainly didn't improve the feeling that her eyes seemed to be growing larger and larger with every second.

And they were indeed growing larger, as he realized a split second later. She was bringing her face towards his again. He wanted to turn away, to free himself from the eyes. He failed.

Her lips pressed against his. His eyes slid shut. Without first consulting his judgment, a moment later he had one hand tangled in her hair and the other cupping her face. He kissed her for everything that had been wrong thus far in his life; he channeled as much of his ferocious passion as he possibly could into that kiss.

As he deepened the kiss, Luna stiffened for the briefest of moments, but then relaxed into his arms again, snaking her own arms around his neck. Suddenly she was on her back, and Tom was above her, gazing down at her with an undecipherable expression on his face. She watched him for a moment as he inspected her, but then she put a hand on either side of his face and brought his mouth to her own once more.

After a moment, he was at her neck, peppering her with kisses, gently biting, and simultaneously beginning to unbutton her blouse. To his surprise, Luna gave no protest, instead shrugging the shirt off. Tom was entranced by her milky white skin. She was so small, so thin. Tom suddenly had an overwhelming fear that he would accidentally shatter her. She looked so fragile. He backed away from her, retreating to the opposite side of the sofa. Then she was at his side, breathing into his ear, "I love you."

With that, he returned to her. He ran his fingers up and down her sides, savoring the feel of her soft skin. She then was tugging at his shirt. Without bothering to unbutton it, he tore it over his head with some difficulty. She stared at him for a long moment, taking in his lean muscle and slender frame.

A few minutes later found them completely disposed of their clothing. Outside, a light rain began to fall, pattering against the windows of their room. Tom gazed at her naked body, with shadows from the firelight dancing across it, and thought wildly that he had never seen anything so beautiful. In turn, Luna gently traced the dips and contours of his torso.

Tom eased into her as gently as she could, allowing her to control every movement. Occasionally she shuddered or clenched her eyes shut in pain, but she did not stop until it was complete. For a moment they lay still, and Tom opened his mouth to say something, but Luna hushed him. "Don't be a blabbermouth, Thomas," she whispered.

He lowered his mouth to her collarbone, and a breath escaped her lips, brushing by his ears. Tom marveled at how different this was. He was no virgin, but somehow this felt like an entirely new experience nonetheless. Every touch was a sensation, every sound she made like a beautiful symphony to him. He had never felt so whole before, and he made love to her late into the night.

When Tom woke the following morning, he had to think for a moment to remember where he was. Then he opened his eyes to see Luna right next to him, curled closely to him, wearing only his shirt that was far too large on her. The sunlight shone off of her skin, and even after the night they had shared, she still seemed perfect, flawless, pure, and unmarred. She was still everything that he was not.


	21. Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **Honestly, if you're not all used to this by now, you ought to see some sort of therapist.

* * *

_This obsession, I must admit, has me shaken up a bit.  
My solidarity now only comes in pairs.  
I'd like to see you before you see me.  
I'd like to see you leave.  
Showered by torrential praise, why it is, I can't explain.  
Attempts to leave yield no avail.  
For me I don't know what's in store.  
All I want is nothing more.  
I don't deserve what I get._

_I have nothing to return._

--A.F.I.

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry for this loooooooong overdue update, and I apologize a million times more that its so short. My muse for this story was gone for a while, but its back now, so if you'll accept my weak offering of peace, I can promise to do better in the future.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: Goodbye**

Tom had been awake for quite a while before Luna stirred. She stretched luxuriously, pointing her small toes, and stretching her arms above her head. Then she looked about in confusion before remembering where she was. She smiled slightly at the too-big shirt she was wearing. She rolled over to look at Tom, but he wasn't smiling. Her own smile began to fade.

"What's the - " she began.

"You were talking in your sleep," Tom interrupted flatly.

Luna cocked her head. "Was I?"

"Yes. You were."

By now her smile was completely gone. She furrowed her brow and asked, "Well, I'm sorry. Did I keep you awake?"

"No."

"Oh." She waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she prompted, "Well, why are you so upset then?"

He glared at her. "Because all I understood out of what you were saying was, 'Harry this, Harry that.' Who's Harry?"

Luna smiled again without thinking. "Ooh, yes I did dream about Harry!"

Tom's scowl grew fiercer. "Are you serious? We spend that night together, and then you promptly fall asleep and dream about some other guy?"

Luna's lips parted in a look of small surprise. "Oh, Tom, of course it's nothing like that. Harry's my friend."

"Do I know him?" he asked, still not placated.

"No," she replied, looking suddenly sad. "Not yet." She shrugged lightly and sat up on the couch, with her back to him.

"Do you always have to talk like I already know what you're talking about when I really have no idea?" he snapped.

She looked over her shoulder at him, a sad smile gracing her soft lips. "I really don't mean to upset you, Tom. You know that, right?"

He furrowed his brow, and sat up next to her. "I know you don't mean to. It just comes naturally to you," he said sarcastically, in a feeble attempt to get that sad smile off her face.

Luna apparently missed his subtle attempt, because the smile remained. She sighed. "Oh, Tom," she muttered, staring off into space. "Harry is a friend of mine from back…home."

"Home?" he asked, noticing the brief pause in her words.

"Yes," she replied. "A very good friend to me, really."

Tom couldn't identify the feeling in the pit of his stomach for a moment. He then recognized it as jealousy and scowled. _I really ought to be getting used to this damn feeling by now, _he thought.

He was torn from his thoughts when Luna rested her head against his shoulder. "I miss him. I guess I never really paid any attention to how much," she murmured.

Tom could feel his upper lip curling back, and tried to force himself to stop.

Luna rose from the couch and walked to the window. He stared at her silhouette framed by the sunlight until she turned back to face him. The same sad smile was on her face. "But I suppose its nothing to how much I'll miss you. I've never had anyone like you before."

Her words entered his brain slowly, and it took several moments for him to process them. Once he had, he was off the couch and had crossed the room to her in less than a second. He grabbed both of her arms. "What do you mean, miss me?" he demanded.

"I have to go back home, Tom. I found out yesterday. I don't want to go, and that surprises me. I miss everyone. But I really, really don't want to go." A single tear slithered down her cheek and still the sad smile never left her face.

"Then don't go," Tom whispered violently, unaware that his hands were shaking as they clutched her.

She slowly shook her head, her gray-blue eyes never leaving his dark ones. "I don't have a choice." She shrugged.

Something inside of Tom exploded. "You can't just go," he hissed, releasing her from his grip as if she had burned him. "What was your dream about last night? About Harry? Is that what is making you leave?"

"Tom, you're being irrational."

"Oh, you're one to talk about being irrational, Luna!" he raved.

She wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly until he stopped struggling. She then buried her face in his bare chest, and he could feel several more tears make their way from her eyes. "I would never leave you over a dream," she murmured. "I wouldn't leave you even if Harry came back and begged me to come home, or anybody else. I'd like to think that I would, but I wouldn't. Please understand that."

He was completely still in her embrace, refusing to let himself wrap his own arms around her. "So why are you going?" he asked in a monotone voice.

Her arms tightened around him again. "I have to," she whispered, shuddering.

"I understand," he said coldly.

"No. No you don't, Tom. You don't understand. I love you," she whispered.

He carefully but firmly released himself from her arms. "Fortunately, I don't love you." His already bruised heart took another blow when he watched her react to that.

She looked like he had slapped her. Her lower lip quivered, but then she set her jaw, and behind her eyes, he saw that she was angry with him. "That isn't true," she insisted.

He raised one eyebrow. "Isn't it?" he asked in a cold, mocking tone.

"No. It isn't." Several more tears brimmed over her eyes even in her anger. Then her resolution broke, and her face truly crumbled for the first time since he had met her. "But if you want to live as though you never loved me from now on, if that's really easier for you…." She trailed off. "I really wish that you could know, really _know_. But it would be so wrong of me to - ." Her voice broke. She took a deep breath before she began again. "Someday you'll know, Tom. But it will be too late. I want to believe that you won't…but you will." She swallowed audibly.

He shook his head, forcing himself to not reach out to her, to not try his best, however bad it was, to make her stop. "As usual, I don't have any idea what you're talking about. However, if it makes it easier for _you _to live as though I loved you, be my guest. May I have my clothing back now so that I may leave?" He could feel his teeth grinding together.

Her eyes clenched shut and more tears leaked out. "If you don't mind turning around while I get dressed," she said quietly.

Tom rolled his eyes, but turned his back on her. He could barely hear her moving about the room, so light was her movement. Only when he heard the door close quietly did he turn around. His shirt was folded neatly on the couch where they had made love, and she was gone. Tucked into the breast pocket, she had left him a small note, and it simply read:

_I love you._

He stared at it in silence for several long, quiet minutes, shaking again. He then crumpled the small piece of paper in his fist. When he realized that his nails were digging into his palm, he opened his hand again, and the ball of parchment fell unnaturally slowly to the floor.


	22. If Home Is Where the Heart Is

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything you recognize. I might not own what you don't recognize either, depending upon how well read you are.

* * *

**A/N:** First off, apologies and excuses (this is becoming a habit…). As I've stated in my user profile thingamajig, I've had multiple health and family problems, as well as a lead in a musical and a too-long report due that have made my life a living hell. (Well, except for the musical, that was fun. Heh.) Anywho, there's some more excuses to chalk up to the Why It Now Takes Sockyferret Forever To Update list. And millions upon millions of apologies to all of you who have stuck through the last few months, waiting patiently for me to get it together and POST for you!

Also, in the next few chapters there's going to be GoodFriend!Harry. As well as some Tom and Luna doing what all dumpers and dumpees do: trying to move on.

I also now have to say (brag?) that I have over 100 dedicated readers on this story now, which is something I never expected when I began writing it. I'm thrilled beyond words, so on that note, I'll just say THANK YOU and stop talking. On with the story!

* * *

"_It feels like I've been everywhere  
But someday I'll be coming home."  
_--John Legend

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two: If Home Is Where the Heart Is**

The days following the night in the Room of Requirement and leading up to her departure were blurred and the memories unclear. Tom was not seen in class for those days, and she did not see him again. No one in the Slytherin house would tell her where he was. Rumors spread like wildfire through the school about why Luna looked like a ghost and Tom was nowhere to be found.

After dinner one night, Professor Dumbledore caught Luna before she left the Great Hall. "It's time," he muttered. "Come to my office tonight when you are ready."

Luna went to her dormitory and quickly wrote notes for Lucinda, Lorraine, and Tristy. She spent longer on Cat's note, but it was still fairly short. She briefly considered writing a note for Tom, but rejected the idea. She had nothing left to say.

She placed each of the girls' notes on their bedside tables. Then she put her wand behind her ear and carefully tucked Tom's necklace beneath her blouse. She scooped Othello up and left the dormitory.

Upon reaching Dumbledore's office, she knocked quietly. "Come in, Miss Lovegood."

She entered to find Dumbledore waiting for her, sitting behind his desk, fingertips pressed together under his chin. He gave her a small smile. "Ready, then?"

Luna nodded.

Dumbledore stood from his chair. He picked up what looked like a Time-Turner, only it was silver rather than gold. He draped the thin chain around her neck. "I suppose it's safer to travel into the future. If a mistake is made, at least you know you're coming." He smiled, but the lack of the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. He rested a hand on her thin shoulder. "There are no words, Miss Lovegood. Your time here was a blessing for all who have met you. I look forward to seeing you again someday. Goodbye, Miss Lovegood." He winked, and before she could speak, she realized he had been turning the tiny hourglass. And then Dumbledore and his office were gone.

She was returned to her own time precisely on the day she was first ripped backward into the past. She reappeared in the now-empty office. She set Othello down, who looked ruffled and put-out after his time-traveling venture. He walked slowly down the hall, sniffing carefully at all the unfamiliar scents in what was a familiar corridor. Luna then drifted down to the Great Hall, where the first year students were still in the process of being sorted.

She hovered in the entry to the Great Hall, _her _Great Hall, not Tom's. She watched as a small blonde girl scuttled to the stool with the Sorting Hate perched upon it. Everything seemed surreal to Luna at this moment. She was accustomed to disruptions in her life, and she was equally accustomed to the way the world continued on in spite of these disruptions. So the smiling faces on her peers, despite the shape her own heart was in, did not bother her. All that bothered her was she was afraid she wouldn't be able to keep up with the world this time.

Her thoughts, as well as the relative quiet over the Hall as the Hat thought, were shattered by a shriek coming from a mass of brown hair hurtling towards her.

"OHMYGODLUNAYOU'REALRIGHTYOU'REALRIGHT!" Hermione screamed. She threw her arms around Luna and once again began sobbing uncontrollably. "I was so worried," she sobbed. Luna patted her back comfortingly as Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Neville made their way over to her as well.

"Don't kill her, Hermione. She's only just got back," Harry said, grinning a lopsided grin.

Ginny pried Hermione off of Luna, giving Ron, Harry, and Neville each a chance to hug Luna. After Ginny had hugged her herself, the six of them turned back toward the Great Hall. Hundreds of eyes were staring at them. Hermione, still sniffing, cried, "Nothing's going on here! Continue with the Sorting!"

Dean Thomas snorted audibly and the entire Hall erupted into chatter. Only when Professor McGonagall stood up from her seat and demanded order did the Sorting begin again.

Luna chose to sit at the Gryffindor table for the feast, and no one objected. The questions began immediately, for they had noticed Luna's dead eyes, until Ron, in an uncharacteristic moment of social intelligence, suggested that they leave Luna be until she was ready to talk.

So in spite of Hermione's constant worried glances, Luna ate most of her first meal back in her own time in peace.

* * *

Classes began the next day, but since Luna had already learned most of it, they did not keep her mind as occupied as she would have liked. It did keep her friends occupied, however, and kept them from asking too many questions. Othello was her main source of company, as she remained in her dormitory during most of her free time. He knew something was wrong with her, and tried his very best to cheer her up, which he succeeded at better than most of the people she knew did. He would curl up on her lap, his lion-like tail waving smoothly, and he would purr incredibly loudly. He would do amazing acrobatics to make her laugh. And best of all, he wouldn't ask questions.

Finally, on Friday, Luna asked Harry to meet her outside the Room of Requirement at midnight so that she could tell him her story.

When Luna arrived outside the Room of Requirement, she whispered to apparently an empty corridor, "Harry?"

Harry's head appeared. "Yeah, I'm here. Let's go."

Once they had unlocked the room, which had transformed into a cozy library, Harry cast his invisibility cloak aside and they settled into chairs opposite each other. Both were silent, and Luna knew Harry was waiting for her to speak.

"I don't mind if you tell the others what I tell you. But I wanted to tell you because I feel closest to you, Harry, and…and I think what I say may affect you the most." She said this slowly, choosing her words carefully.

Harry nodded, urging her to continue, though he now looked slightly puzzled.

"You'll understand what I mean when I'm finished. So I suppose I should start." Luna smiled at herself, and then began her story.

Harry remained silent until Luna said, "I asked Professor Dumbledore what year it was. I didn't even know that, you see. And he told me it was 1943."

Harry leaned forward suddenly. "1943?"

Luna nodded, knowing his train of thought.

"But Luna, Voldemort was still a student here then! Did you meet him? What happened?" Harry was so excited that he didn't notice Luna's face fall.

"Yes, I met Tom, Harry," she said quietly. "That's why I'm telling you. I want you to know everything I know about Tom. Perhaps it may help you kill him." Her voice did not break.

"Tom? How well did you know him, Luna?" Harry asked, brow furrowing.

"Well enough that I've had second thoughts about telling you what I know." Luna's eyes were now sparkling, keeping Harry from jumping all over her. "Please, just let me tell you, before I change my mind."

Harry agreed, and for the most part he kept his word. He interjected occasionally, either in disbelief or in anger. He felt in some ways he should be angry with Luna, angry with her for not killing Voldemort when she had the chance. But whatever anger he had towards her died before it really began. Instead, all the more anger poured out towards Tom. _Voldemort_, he mentally corrected himself.

Luna carefully omitted the necklace Tom had given her from her story, for fear Harry would take it away from her. It now hung around her neck, glowing as red as ever, though it was carefully hidden beneath her shirt. The fact that it was still glowing had surprised her immensely when she first returned. This meant that the man Tom had become, Lord Voldemort, still thought about her. And always did. She also left out the night she and Tom had shared together in the Room of Requirement, not wishing to share it with anyone, not even Harry.

"And then I came back. To you, I was only gone an hour or so, but to me I was gone several months. And now…well, now I'm – home." Her voice faltered on the last word.

The silence in the room was palpable. Harry stared at the carpet as if he had never seen anything like it before. His brow was so heavily creased that Luna thought absently it might never unwrinkle again.

"You fell in love with Voldemort," Harry said finally.

And suddenly, Luna started laughing, really laughing, for the first time in too long. And not for the first time, Harry stared at her as if she were mad.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked incredulously.

Giggling, Luna said, "It's just that when you say it like that, it sounds so absurd!"

Harry cracked a smile, crooked as always. "At least he hasn't broken your laughter, Luna. I don't think I could've dealt with that."

Luna stopped laughing suddenly. "Just a broken heart," she muttered.

Harry stood from his seat, scooped her shivering form into his arms, and sat back down, cradling her to him. "I can't deal with that either, though, Luna."

A tear finally made its way down her cheek. She wiped it away carelessly with the back of her hand.

"It is alright to cry. I might not be who you want to hold you, but I'm here anyway," Harry said, quietly comforting her.

With that, Luna gave in to her tears and cried quietly into Harry's shirt.

"You didn't sound so sure that you'd come home," he said speculatively.

"I was just thinking about that old saying, 'Home is where the heart is.'"

Harry smiled sadly. "I understand. And I want you to know how much I appreciate your telling me all this. I…I know it must not be easy."

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm betraying him, you know?" she whispered.

"I don't think it's fair for you to look at it that way. I don't think he's that person anymore. You really aren't betraying Tom."

She nodded. "I know."

"I also want you to know that I appreciate your being tiny. I wouldn't have been able to pick you up otherwise, and that really would have ruined my chivalrous moment."

Luna smiled. And though it was a weak smile, it was a smile nonetheless.

Once her tears had completely stopped, Harry said, "Alright. Let's get you to bed. You need sleep." He stood and placed her on her feet. He picked up his invisibility cloak and covered both of them with it as they exited the room.

Harry walked her to the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower. Halfway there, Luna's hand found its way into his, not as a romantic gesture, but to fully appreciate that he was her friend, and he was there. And for the first time since she had left Tom, Luna didn't feel so alone.


	23. Scar Issues

**Disclaimer:** Oh, if only I owned Tom Riddle…-grins wickedly- Unfortunately for me (rather fortunately for our dear Dark Lord), I do NOT own Tom, or any other part of the lovely universe created by J.K. Rowling.

* * *

**A/N:** The quote for this chapter is from the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The quote is about ivory (as in the expensive stuff they kill elephants for), but it is what inspired me in the way Luna is feeling about Tom. They aren't identical but this ever-present unseen thing inspired me. See the connection? If you do, you're as twisted as I am! Yayyy!

Also, Tom makes an entrance back into the story, however brief, mostly because it's not as much fun to write without him.

* * *

"_The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. … I've never seen anything so unreal in my life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion."  
_--Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Scar Issues**

Tom. It was Tom. Tom was everywhere. He was around each corner of the corridors; in her dreams. Blue eyes or red eyes – for the first time, Luna didn't care what color they were so long as they belonged to Tom. To see those eyes again – but, no. Still, she could not escape it, could not escape him. Her pillow – she could smell him on it, though he had never lain there. That smell, his soap mixed with his own musk mixed with egotism…it intoxicated her. His voice echoed in her mind, his name a sigh on her lips, his memory the breath in her lungs.

And each day the necklace grew heavier around her neck. Day by day, perhaps minute by minute – rather than her pain easing, her burden became harder to bear. And the necklace was always around her neck, always there to remind her.

She knew what Harry had told the Others – she thought of them that way now, Harry and the Others. They were no longer Ginny, Hermione, Neville, and Ron. They were only a single unit, all with the same opinion of her. Because Harry told them that Tom had used her, that Tom had never really cared. And the Others pitied her. Luna did not want their pity.

Luna felt betrayed by Harry – he had seemed to understand. Truthfully, she had not approached him about her feelings of betrayal, so he never got to explain; she also understood why Harry would believe that. Everyone believed Tom to be soulless, heartless. But Luna knew better, because Luna was the one who had the glowing red necklace around her neck day after day, night after night. It never stopped glowing.

She kept it carefully hidden from Harry, always wearing it under her robes. It occurred to her that by keeping a secret from Harry, she was betraying him also, and she felt guilty. Harry and Luna had been one another's confidants, for Harry felt, rightly so, that Luna would not judge him. And they had always been open with one another. By concealing something from him, Luna wondered perhaps if she had been changed by Tom – not for the better. But she still could not bring herself to sacrifice what she had left of him. And secretly, late at night when she lay awake, she would sometimes admit to herself that even if she had wanted to give it to Harry, she didn't think she could. The necklace pulled her to it. She often woke up with her fingers entwined in its chain, and whenever she bathed, she bathed as quickly as possible, for it bothered her to remove the necklace for any amount of time.

The Headmistress had excused Luna from class indefinitely last Friday, as she had already taken the courses. Sometimes Luna went to her classes anyway, just to get out, but more often than not she was in her dormitory, reading and reading the hours away with Othello curled up on her lap. She left for meals, but often brought the food back to her dorm to eat; she occasionally made the excursion to the library for more reading material, but as she merely grabbed the first books she saw, this took little time before she was back in her room again.

The entire school was abuzz with what had happened to Loony Lovegood on the train. Of course, only Harry and the Others, as well as Headmistress McGonagall knew what actually happened, but that didn't stop rumors from flying around, rumors so colorful that even Luna thought they were absurd. In spite of the sudden interest in Luna, her roommates continued to ignore her, just as they always had.

Luna would have been in near-perfect isolation had it not been for Harry's constant notes sent to her dormitory, courtesy of Hedwig. At first they were generic, asking how she was doing and inviting her to eat dinners with him and the Others. Then, just as Luna's mind again skittered to the thought that Harry had in some way betrayed her by dismissing her relationship with Tom, Harry seemed to catch on that he had hurt her feelings. Luna suspected that Hermione had clued him in. The notes became even more frequent, turning from friendly concern to apologetic to pleading her to see him.

Understanding the emotional distress she was causing Harry, Luna agreed to eat dinner with him one night in late September.

* * *

"Budge up there, Dean," Harry said, making room for Luna. As she sat down next to Harry at the Gryffindor table (which still felt strange to her) she could feel the eyes of her friends on her. For the first time, she realized how much she really missed Cat. She felt her heart sink another inch into her stomach. But right now, she had Hermione piling food on her plate, insisting she looked peaky; Ron bent low over his own food, avoiding eye contact; Ginny trying valiantly to keep Neville from clinging to Luna and never letting go; and Harry quietly observing her.

"What's going on, Luna?" Harry asked quietly.

Luna observed the students filling the Great Hall, talking and laughing but always with a cloud over their heads: Voldemort. Noting that the Others were listening to the conversation whether they wished her to know it or not, Luna took a sip of pumpkin juice before answering, "You know, Harry. I didn't confide in you only because I felt you needed the information." Luna suddenly realized she was ravenous and began attacking the food Hermione had piled in front of her.

"Please stop talking in riddles," Harry replied impatiently, ignoring the food on his own plate.

Luna swallowed too quickly; the food caught in her throat painfully before retreating into her body. Harry's demeanor reminded her all too much of Tom sometimes; diluted and less potent, yes, but several things about the two young men were similar. "I don't mean to."

Harry sighed, and his impatience turned to indulgence and fondness for Luna. All traces of Tom were lost. "I know."

Taking another swig from her goblet, Luna said, "It's just…you don't think he really loved me."

Ron choked conspicuously on a piece of carrot and Ginny began thumping him on the back. Hermione eyed Ron disapprovingly before returning her gaze to Harry and Luna.

"You're right, Luna. I don't," Harry replied honestly.

Luna glanced at Hermione before saying, "I think you're wrong."

"Luna…what could possibly make you believe…," Hermione began, but trailed off.

Harry shot a look at the curly-haired witch. "Did he ever tell you he loved you?"

For a moment, Luna was tempted to rip the necklace from beneath her robes, to shove it in his face, glowing in all its dark glory, and say, _He said it through this, Harry. Do you see how it's red, even now?_ But to tell Harry of the stone would be to risk losing it, so instead she said, "No. He never told me he loved me."

"See?" Harry said triumphantly.

Luna gazed complacently up at the ceiling, which was a deep purple, dotted with stars. "You would have used my answer against me no matter what I said."

Harry allowed a lull in the conversation to prod the food on his plate with his fork and to exchange meaningful glances with Hermione. Ron had recovered, but he was pointedly staying out of the conversation. Neville had succumbed to the delicious food, and Ginny was trying to keep it that way while still listening with one ear.

"I told you because I thought you'd understand," Luna said quietly to Harry.

Harry slammed his fork down on the table, causing Ron to look up in spite of himself. "Damn it, Luna, what's to understand?" Luna balked at his outburst, but he continued. "You fell in love with Voldemort, Luna!" he hissed at her, so quietly that only she could hear. "The Dark Lord. He killed my parents. He's incapable of love. He couldn't have loved you back."

"I won't listen to you bang on like this."

"Am I supposed to have nothing to say about you being the Dark Lord's little bit of skirt?" Harry spat, losing his temper.

And then Luna slapped Harry across the face. There was a moment of quiet from those surrounding them. Ginny gaped like a fish out of water and Neville's pumpkin juice, which he had been drinking, was now pouring steadily into his lap.

Luna herself seemed stunned by herself, though it came across as only a look of mild surprise. Harry seemed to have regained control of his temper and now looked as though he felt like quite a prat.

The noise erupted again suddenly. Hermione began to babble about something unintelligible, though she was most likely reprimanding one or the other. Ron muttered a stunned, "Blimey," and Neville noticed suddenly that his pants were now soaked through with pumpkin juice.

Luna said, "Come with me." She led Harry out into the Entrance Hall, leaving the voices of the students behind. "You don't know him," she said, once they reached solitude.

"No one does! Including you, Luna!" Harry said rather loudly.

"Yes, I do," she insisted quietly.

"You see? He's a master at deception and he deceived you, too!" Harry whispered fervently, seizing her hand and gripping it slightly too hard to be comfortable. "I've defended you and your absurd beliefs for as long as I've known you, but this is just too much. You must realize that. I feel like I'm losing you."

Luna cocked her head at him. "Have you no faith, Harry Potter?"

"Not in Lord Voldemort," he replied, shaking his head.

"Not even in me?" she murmured.

Harry paused. "Luna…I've seen more powerful witches and wizards than you fall before him."

"I'm not weak, Harry."

"You're not Voldemort either."

"I don't need to be," she said.

"To know what's in his head, you do. You must understand, Luna." His hands released her own small one and his shoulders sagged. "I can't watch your light go out because of him. Not when I truly believe he was only practicing his manipulations on you."

"I do understand," she said after a long moment. "I know exactly where you're coming from on this. But I can't believe it, Harry. I have to hold on because it's all I have."

Harry looked up into her face and watched as a tear overflowed from her eye and trickled down her cheek. He shook his head again and took both of her hands in his, very gently this time. "It's not all you have. You've got Ginny and Neville and Ron. Hermione, too. And Othello. You've got your dad. He loves you more than anything. And you have me, too."

Luna squeezed his hands, and then brought him into an embrace. "Thank you, Harry."

Harry smiled into her hair. "I'm here for you, you toss-pot." He hugged her tightly, but a sudden, burning pain ripped through his head. His scar was on fire, it was ripping his head apart –

_He was hugging someone…his face was buried in soft blonde hair…a light scent of citrus filled his nostrils…he pulled back and saw huge gray eyes, full of love and concern…he fell to the ground..._

Voldemort pulled out of Harry's mind, wondering if he'd just seen what he thought he'd seen.


	24. A Secret Keeper

**Disclaimer:** I think I'm the only author on the planet who enjoys writing disclaimers. They amuse me to no end because no one reads them.

* * *

**A/N:** And we pick up pretty much right where we left off, or _in medias res_. Hoorah for the literature vocabulary. English teachers everywhere rejoice.

* * *

_"Secrets are things we give to others to keep for us."_  
-- Elbert Hubbard

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Secret Keeper**

"He does it all the time. I can usually fight him off, but sometimes he breaks through when I'm stressed, or unfocused. I'm fine, guys. Stop carrying on," Harry said, brushing his friends off.

"Why didn't you tell us this was happening, mate?" Ron asked, his usually clear brow creased with worry.

Ginny and Hermione were buzzing about Harry, smoothing his hair, feeling his forehead, and trying to convince him to go to the Hospital Wing. Neville was hovering behind Ron, unsure of what to do, but eager to help. Luna was in the background, feeling too many odd emotions.

"It was my burden to bear. Ginny, Hermione, stop. I'm fine."

"We won't. Not until you've gone to the Hospital Wing," Ginny replied snappily, putting her hands on her hips and suddenly reminding them all of Molly Weasley.

"I'm sorry I made you unfocused, Harry," Luna said quietly in the background, unsure if anyone actually heard her.

"Don't start, Luna. It's not your fault," Ginny replied, still staring Harry down. Luna watched Harry squirm under the gaze of the fiery witch. "Honestly, Potter. 'My burden to bear,'" she imitated. "Stop being so self-righteous and ask for help sometimes. That's what we're here for, you prat." With that, Ginny marched off in the direction of the Hospital Wing, assuming that Harry would follow. And after a moment, he did.

The rest of them trailed after, Luna wondering in a distant part of her brain whether Ginny was much like Harry's mum.

Madam Pomfrey was not pleased that he hadn't come to her immediately, though there was nothing she could really do besides make his head stop aching. She bustled about, muttering things like, "Dark wizards in your head and not telling anyone...really, now..." She also insisted Harry remain in the Hospital Wing until all the "proper people" had been notified of the situation and he could be checked over by Aurors, special Healers from St. Mungo's, and who knows who else. Harry groaned at this; he had wanted this to be kept relatively secret. Now the whole Order of the Phoenix would know.

"Well, it is rather important, you know," Hermione told him. "You really shouldn't have kept something like that from the Order."

Harry was still grumpy by the time the Healers and Aurors arrived and Madam Pomfrey shooed the students out.

The five remaining gathered in the Gryffindor common room. Luna looked around interestedly as she'd never been inside before.

"What d'you think'll come of it?" Ron ventured. When no one replied, he went on, "I mean, d'you think You-Know-Who can control him, or - "

"We know what you meant, Ronald," Hermione snapped, clearly stressed.

A gloom fell over the group, and it dawned on Luna that she had forgiven them for their thoughts on her relationship with Tom. She smiled as she realized this. They were the most important people in her life now. To have attempted to remain upset with them would have only torn her apart more. Her emotions at the current moment were doing enough of tearing her apart without any help.

Other students began filtering into the common room after dinner. Nearly all of them were sending curious glances in their direction. Seamus and Dean approached them. "Nice one, Luna! Right across the face! What'd Harry do?" Seamus asked her with a grin.

Luna stared at him. "Are you congratulating me for slapping Harry?"

"Er, yeah," Seamus replied awkwardly. "It was sort of funny."

"Oh?" Luna's eyebrows went up, and she showed signs of genuine interest.

"Harry's just a boy, Seamus, that's all," Hermione interrupted suddenly. "Boys do stupid things." She cast a withering look at Ron.

"Huh." Seamus appeared to know there was more to it than that, but chose not to oppose Hermione and instead wandered off with Dean.

The night wore on with no sign of Harry returning. The common room slowly emptied again as the other Gryffindors went up to their dormitories. Neville's head had long since dropped onto his shoulder and he had begun to snore. Sometime after eleven, Ron and Ginny's eyes began to droop as well, and no matter how hard they tried to stay awake, they too fell asleep. Ron rested his head in Hermione's lap, who gently stroked his hair. Luna was struck by the tenderness of the gesture, in contrast to Hermione's usually bustling and crisp personality. Ginny curled up like a cat in the corner of the sofa and drifted off as well. Only Hermione and Luna remained awake, though one of them would occasionally yawn in the silence.

Finally, well after midnight, Harry reentered the common room flanked by Professors McGonagall and Snape. Hermione prodded Ron to wake him up, and Luna gently shook Ginny and Neville awake. Ron sat up in a hurry, saying quickly, "I didn't! I don't even know that spell!"

"Calm down, Mr. Weasley. We all know your less than impressive aptitude for spells," Snape said icily.

McGonagall intervened before Ron could retort. "After several tests by Healers and Aurors, and I believe an Unspeakable was there as well, Mr. Potter has been deemed safe, at least for the time being. As far as we can judge, this link between He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Harry only allows the Dark Lord to see what Harry is seeing at any given time. He cannot, as of yet, control Mr. Potter."

A collective sigh of relief was issued about the room. "Oh, Harry," Hermione breathed, clearly relieved.

"However, this sort of connection between wizards is unprecedented so we must keep a close eye on Harry. If any of you notice any change in his behavior, any at all, report it to either Professor Snape or myself immediately. Do not ask Harry about it. If he is indeed being controlled, he won't be honest," McGonagall said.

Harry looked extremely disgruntled at the suggestion that he couldn't take care of his own mind.

"But now every time Harry's tired or stressed or in any other way acting a little off we'll have to report it?" Neville said questioningly.

"Indeed, Longbottom, an astute observation for once. This was my qualm with the plan as well. I suggested the Aurors just lock the boy up rather than force me to get to the bottom of his adolescent problems once a week," Professor Snape replied.

"Severus, you know that could never work," McGonagall admonished. "We need him."

"So it seems is the general consensus among the Order," Snape mused quietly, looking equally as annoyed as Harry did.

McGonagall's lips formed a dangerously thin line before turning back to the students. "Please follow those instructions. Do not feel silly about coming to us. Harry may not be entirely pleased with the arrangement, but he does understand the necessity."

Looking at Harry's face, Luna thought that it would appear that Harry certainly did not understand the necessity and would rather have hair full of nargles than go along with the plan.

A general mumbling of, "Yes, Professor," came from the students, and then the two teachers swept out of the portrait hole and left.

As soon as the portrait swung closed behind them, Harry turned to his friends menacingly. "If any of you go to Snape and tell him I'm moody or something I will kill you."

Neville was looking fearful. "But Harry, you saying that could be cause enough for us to go. If you were being controlled by You-Know-Who, he would probably threaten us too."

"That's true, mate," Ron said, looking at Harry scrutinizingly as though Harry would suddenly sprout fangs and reveal himself to be Voldemort.

Harry looked like he was about to implode. "I am not being controlled by Voldemort," he growled through gritted teeth.

"How are we supposed to know though?" Ginny asked. "You-Know-Who would lie about that, obviously."

"This is absurd!" Harry cried. "No matter what I say, you lot will all think I'm being possessed or something!"

Luna finally spoke up. "Why don't we just use a form of the Fidelus Charm to make a password that only we know? That way, even if Tom takes your mind, he won't find the word lying around in there because it would be hidden in your soul instead."

"That's too obvious. Surely You-Know-Who would figure that out and as shown by Pettigrew, someone could always crack - " Hermione began.

"I think it's brilliant," Harry said suddenly. "I trust every one of you."

"Your parents trusted Peter Pettigrew," Hermione argued.

"You aren't Peter Pettigrew, are you? Besides, only the Secret Keeper can tell others what the password is, so I really only have to trust one of you," Harry said playfully. Then he looked thoughtful. "Its powerful magic. And he's not used to exploring hearts, is he?" He was looking at Luna with a fiercely proud glint in his eye, as if she had pleased him immensely by her idea.

Harry had nailed her thinking on the head for once, but Luna felt little joy in solving the problem. She still felt a nagging guilt pulling at her for working against Tom. It was a constant battle with herself; to remind herself that Voldemort was merely a shell of the boy she loved. And even further back in her mind was the thought that if Voldemort saw whatever Harry was seeing...why, Harry was seeing her at the time! Surely that meant that Voldemort had seen her...that Tom had seen her. She shook her head to clear the thought, reminding herself once again that Voldemort did not equal Tom. But no matter how hard she shook her head, these thoughts lingered, nagging at the back of her mind, always on the outskirts of thoughts, for she would not allow herself to think about it directly.

"Who will your Secret Keeper be, though, Harry?" Ginny asked.

Harry studied each of them in turn. After several long moments, he said, "Neville."

All but Neville and Luna looked surprised. Alternatively, Luna nodded understandingly, and Neville squared his shoulders as though he'd known it was coming.

Luna could understand why Harry would choose Neville. Harry trusted each of them, this she knew. But she also knew that, just as Sirius would have been an obvious choice for James and Lily, Ron or Hermione would have been the obvious choice for Harry. And the obvious choice was almost never a wise one in the war they were in. As for Ginny, Harry felt fiercely protective of her, as did Ron. If it were up to the two boys, Ginny would never be involved with their plans in the first place; thus to give her the duty of Secret Keeper was out of the question. And as for herself...Luna suspected that no matter how many times she were to prove her allegiance to Harry, the thought that she had loved a young Lord Voldemort would forever nag at him. Neville, on the other hand, had always risen to the challenge when bravery and strength were needed. His faith and loyalty to Harry had never wavered, and, as judged by his parents, Longbottoms were made of sterner stuff than they appeared.

Ron and Ginny both looked slightly offended by Harry's choice, and Hermione looked thoughtful. Luna suspected that Hermione was working things out in her brain, logically filing away each reason that Luna had already thought of. After a moment, Hermione smiled and nodded at Harry.

"That's a very good choice," she said, turning her smile on Neville.

Ron furrowed his brow. "But...I'm your best mate."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Exactly."

Ron only looked more confused, so Hermione explained it to him and Ginny, though she left out the reason for not choosing Luna, as it was still a touchy subject. Ron looked appeased, but Ginny did not.

"I'm not a child," she said sullenly.

"Yes you are," Ron replied, sounding oddly maternal.

"I'm the same age as Luna, and I'm only a year younger than the rest of you lot," the female Weasley pointed out.

"Ginny, it's not that we think of you as a child. It's just we wouldn't want you to get hurt," Harry said soothingly.

"Oh, but you're alright with tossing Neville out to get hurt?" she stubbornly asked.

"It's different, Gin. You know it is."

"How?" she asked, her eyes glinting dangerously.

"This is Neville's. It just is. Can't you feel that?" Luna asked suddenly.

Ginny opened her mouth to retort, but then snapped it shut again. She considered what Luna said and after a moment sighed and nodded. "I know it is."

With Ginny's acceptance, the group said goodnight to each other, agreeing to track down Professor McGonagall the next day to get her approval of the idea and to set to work on performing the charm. As it was after curfew, Ginny set up a makeshift bed for Luna on one of the couches in the common room so that she wouldn't have to go back to Ravenclaw Tower. Then the Gryffindors filed up their separate staircases to their dormitories and all was silent.

Luna was tired but lay awake for some time. She mulled over the night's events, and no matter how hard she tried, a raven-haired boy with cold, dark eyes kept floating into her mind. After several unsuccessful attempts to push him out, she gave in and carefully pulled out the necklace from beneath her school uniform. The fire in the common room had long since died, leaving the room pitch black but for the twinkling light of the stars coming in from the window. But when she pulled out the red stone, it cast its own dim, red light about it, illuminating her face as she gazed at it, warm and alive in her small palm.


	25. Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer**: Poo.

* * *

**A/N**: You may all now take 30 seconds to mentally tar and feather me for taking forever to update. I must apologize for any typos/errors in this chapter as I mulled it out like a machine and haven't checked over it carefully or had it betaed. I also have the next chapter 3/4's of the way written. That'll be up by Tuesday. Thanks to all of you who are still reading this story!

* * *

"_What is the difference between love and obsession? ... Love was like rain, it turned to ice, or it disappeared. Now you saw it, now you couldn't find it no matter how hard you might search. ... Obsession tasted like something familiar. Something you'd known your whole life. It settled and lurked; it stayed with you."  
--Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Hogsmeade**

* * *

A week and a half later, the charm was successfully in place. Harry had chosen the password "_Raskolnikov_," a name only Hermione and Luna recognized as the main character in Crime and Punishment. Harry had read quite frequently while shut up in his cupboard, mostly the classic novels the Dursley's felt obliged to keep in the house yet never read themselves; Crime and Punishment was one such novel. Luna's father had always encouraged her to explore the muggle world. Having few opportunities for study of live muggles, Luna had instead done so by reading everything from Shakespeare to Dostoevsky, and Bronte to the Grimm brothers. Hermione, as the resident bookworm, of course recognized the name as well.

Harry had chosen the name, hoping it was sufficiently random and muggle enough to erase the chance of Voldemort ever guessing it. The only draw back was having to teach Neville how to pronounce it.

Harry also reported a sudden spike in the number of time Voldemort tried to enter his head. It became obvious when this was happening, as Harry would suddenly fall silent, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration, his hands balling in fists. Each time this happened, Luna felt her heart do a strange leap-plummet – leaping at first at the thought of Tom; plummeting with guilt and worry. She had come to mentally call the feeling simply, "The Leaplummet," referring to it as such only in her quiet moments alone with Othello.

After a few days of quiet conversations with Luna, Harry began to consider the idea that maybe Voldemort had truly loved her, or at least cared something for her. Luna sensed this change, as well as the new respect it brought, and appreciated it immensely.

She and Harry had both silently come to the conclusion (self-deprecating and slightly unsure on Luna's part) that the sudden, fervent energy Voldemort was putting forth into his attacks on Harry's mind had to do with the fact that when Voldemort _had_ broken through, Luna's face was all he could see.

While sleeping, nightmares began to plague Luna. In her dreams, the Death Eaters were attacking the castle. Luna was running frantically in search of Harry, trying desperately to find him before one of the Death Eaters or Voldemort found him. As she was rounding a corner in the corridors, she saw Harry. He wasn't all right, though; he was lying down in the middle of the corridors. Trying to shout to him, she found her voice wouldn't work, and as she neared his body, a tall, ugly snake-man that only extremely vaguely resembled her Tom would step out of the shadows. "I knew it was you," the snake-man would whisper, and then Luna would jolt awake to find herself in tears. Ridiculous as the dreams were, she could not help but fear them. Should anything happen to Harry now, she would forever blame herself for it.

* * *

A Hogsmeade visit was scheduled in the second week of October. Luna had finally agreed to go after much prodding from Harry. "You need to go!" Harry had said. And secretly, hardly even understanding himself, he needed for her to go. He seemed to always want her by his side. Part of this was because Harry had grown attached to Luna, more than he would ever admit. And, deep down, in a place in his heart he never explored if it was avoidable, Harry needed her there because, should Voldemort ever break through again, he _wanted _Tom to see Luna. He wanted him to know that Harry had the one person that Voldemort may have ever truly cared for. He wanted Voldemort to see it, to know it, and to feel the loss all over again. Several times, Harry had considered letting Voldemort see Luna's face clearly, if only for a moment. But he hadn't done so, and he knew he never would. It was dangerous, reckless, and selfish. It would likely hurt Luna as well as Voldemort. Still, the thought was strangely tempting.

On the way to Hogsmeade, the group of six was laughing gaily in a way they hadn't done in far too long. The group bustled into the crowded Three Broomsticks to get away from the chilly October air. Seating themselves at a table, Ron went off to order butterbeers for them all, smoothing his hair along the way to make himself presentable for Madame Rosmerta.

Squished between Harry and Neville in a booth originally intended for four people, Luna felt warm, loved, and safe. At one point halfway through their butterbeers, Harry's hand wove itself into Luna's beneath the table. Luna looked up bemusedly, but Harry made no sign that he had done anything at all; he only continued to speak candidly with Ron and the others. Luna wondered briefly if he was unaware that they were holding hands, but decided he must know. Giving Harry's hand a quick squeeze, she tapped Neville on the shoulder and excused herself to the bathroom, sliding her hand away from Harry as gently as she could.

Luna stood in the bathroom, staring at her image in the mirror. Cocking her head to the left, then to the right, she considered how she felt about Harry. The hand-holding-under-tables-for-no-reason way? She frowned and made a face at the mirror, causing it to huff indignantly at her. Suddenly a scream came from the direction of the street. This was quickly followed by more screams and the sound of a terrible commotion. Apologizing quickly to the mirror, Luna flitted out of the bathroom to see what was going on. She found the Three Broomsticks in turmoil, with people on the street struggling to get in and people inside struggling to get out. Luna saw Harry, standing on one of the tables looking for her. Squeezing in between the mass of bodies fighting each and every way, Luna made her way to Harry and the others.

"What's going on?" she shouted above the noise, benignly confused. A huge bang outside caused many more to scream.

"Death Eaters, Luna!" Ron cried. He had his wand at the ready and was fighting to get outside. "They're attacking the village!"

Finally comprehending the noise and terror around her, the color drained out of Luna's already pale face. Just when she'd finally relaxed, her worst fears were being realized. She hung on a moment of fear before setting her jaw. She wouldn't let them get Harry. Not this time. Not ever.

Using her small size to her advantage, Luna nearly crawled over the other patrons of the Three Broomsticks to get to the door. She vaguely heard Harry and Ginny crying after her, trying to get her to come back, but her mind was set. She was also vaguely aware that her foot had hit Justin Finch-Fletchley in the face, giving him a bloody nose, but she had a hard time caring. Just as she reached the door, the glass on one of the large showroom windows was shattered, offering her a convenient exit. Stumbling into the street, she saw a scene of perfect chaos. People and students were running, screaming, fighting. There were terrible figures in black – that's what people were running from.

Luna saw that the nearest Death Eater was bearing down on two third year girls, undoubtedly on their first trip to Hogsmeade. The girls were clinging to each other and crying. Luna had time to wonder if they would ever come back before she overheard what the Death Eater was saying to them.

"Where is Luna Lovegood?" inquired the rather deep female voice.

Luna froze in her tracks for a split second. _So he did see me._

The girls were shaking their heads frantically, unable to speak. "You don't know?" the Death Eater cackled. "That's too bad." The woman crept closer to the girls, raising her wand.

"I'm right here," Luna heard herself say. "I'm right. Here."

The Death Eater turned. "And you are?"

"I'm Luna Lovegood," Luna replied, her voice not shaky or frightened. "What do you want with me?"

The woman appeared to be looking Luna up and down from behind her mask. "You're Luna Lovegood?" Suddenly the woman erupted into a fiendish laughter that sent shivers down Luna's spine. "Crucio!" screamed the Death Eater.

Luna fell to the ground with unbelievable pain. She felt herself writhing on the floor. Then the curse ended as quickly as it had begun. The woman grabbed Luna by the chin and examined her more closely. "Why don't you scream?" the woman queried.

Refusing to answer, Luna looked away indignantly.

From behind her, Luna heard her name being called. _No, no, Harry, stay away. For once, you might not be what they're after._

"What do you want?" Luna asked, surprised by the venom in her own voice.

Luna could almost see the smirk through the mask. "You're coming with me."

The sounds of Harry and, Luna discerned, at least Hermione, probably the others as well, were coming closer through the din of the ongoing battle. Luna felt herself growing frantic. If they were going to take her, they needed to do it now, before Harry could get himself in trouble.

The Death Eater gripping her shot green sparks into the air. All of a sudden, the other Death Eaters began to Disapparate in the middle of their battles. The woman then pointed her wand at Luna's temple. The last thing Luna saw as she keeled over backwards and into unconsciousness was Ginny's terrified face about fifteen yards away.


	26. Prisoner

**Disclaimer**: I don't pretend to own the Harry Potter world.

* * *

"_Within yourself deliverance must be searched for, because each man makes his own prison."  
--Edwin Arnold_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Prisoner**

"Wake up."

Luna tried to do as she was told, but her mind seemed determined to keep her in a state of blissful unconsciousness.

"Wake up, you little bitch!" The harsh female voice was followed by abrupt slaps across Luna's face.

Finally, Luna peeled her eyes open, only to promptly shut them again. She was fairly certain Bellatrix Lestrange was hovering over her, and she was also fairly certain that was the last thing she wanted to wake up to.

"Look at me!" Bellatrix hissed at her. "The Dark Lord wants you. Immediately."

Luna kept her eyes shut, taking in as much of her surroundings as possible before opening them again. She was lying on the floor, a stone floor, judging by the coldness and the hardness of it. It was cold in the room, and dark too. And it was quiet, meaning that she was far away from Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. She had no idea where she was.

"_Look at me." _Bellatrix's voice had grown more angry, if that was possible.

"I don't want to," Luna murmured sleepily, without thinking.

Another sharp slap across her face was the response she got. "I don't care. Get up."

Forcing her eyes open, Luna swallowed hard. "You're the one who was at Hogsmeade, weren't you?" she asked, staring at Bellatrix's black eyes.

A scowl spread across the other woman's face. "Yes. I caught you. Now get up."

Luna tried to move into a sitting position, but her body felt so weak. She collapsed back onto the floor again, unable to move.

Bellatrix lost whatever patience she had. "Get _up!_" Wrapping her hands around Luna's thin upper arms, Bellatrix yanked Luna to her feet. Luna wobbled unsteadily and collapsed again. Bellatrix kicked her in the stomach. "You're fucking useless," she said, before turning to two Death Eaters, shrouded in cloaks, standing by the doorway. "Avery. Mulciber. Carry her if you have to. I don't care. But the Dark Lord wishes to see her immediately." Luna could hear the resentment in Bellatrix's voice.

The two men moved without hesitation towards Luna. Each of them grabbed an arm, again forcing her to her feet. Supporting her this way, they dragged her out of the room and down an equally gloomy hallway. Luna wondered disjointedly if they were underground.

She tried vainly to walk on her own, but gave up, allowing her feet to drag behind her as the two Death Eaters pulled her along. Her mind felt muddy, like her thoughts were stuck in paste. Trying to comprehend everything that had happened was proving to be very difficult.

The last thing she remembered was being in Hogsmeade and then there was screaming and fighting. And then Bellatrix was there. And then she woke up here. And now she was on her way to see the Dark Lord. She knew these things, but didn't fully understand them until several minutes had gone by.

Then it hit her. Suddenly she had a hard time focusing her eyes on anything. She felt very light and confused and terrified all at once. She was a prisoner. And she was Tom's prisoner. The Death Eaters carrying her felt her go even more limp in their grip, but did not stop.

Finally, after what seemed like many twists and turns throughout numerous hallways and past infinite closed doors, the group of four, with Bellatrix following behind to apparently make sure Luna wasn't up to anything, stopped in front of a large oak door. The door was intricately carved, with snakes and serpents intertwining across the wood, and the snakes had emeralds set in for the eyes. Luna noticed there was no handle on the door. She felt briefly hypnotized by the snakes until Bellatrix began speaking quickly to her.

"You will refer to him only as 'my Lord.' You will bow when indicated. You will do as you are told. You will not speak unless directly spoken to." Before giving Luna a chance to respond, Bellatrix reached out and knocked on the door.

A chill voice that Luna knew belonged to him said, "Enter," just as the door silently swung open. All Luna could see was a high-backed chair in the center of the room, facing an empty fire grate. A large snake was resting on the hearth, hissing quietly when her silence was disturbed.

Luna's head was still reeling, and she partly didn't believe she was awake or really physically present, though she knew she was. She knew he must be sitting in the chair. She shuddered involuntarily.

"We have the prisoner, my Lord," Bellatrix said, pushing past the others. Her voice was dripping with sycophancy. It made Luna's stomach lurch.

"Leave her," came the voice from behind the chair.

Bellatrix's jaw tensed, but she nevertheless said, "Yes, my Lord." She turned and left the room.

The two Death Eaters holding Luna up let go at the same time. Luna fell forward, her face smashing in the rug. They too left the room, and the door swung shut behind them.

As if finally gaining some of her senses back, Luna instantly reached up to her ear for her wand. It, of course, was not there. She then searched through the pockets of her jumper, but it was gone.

"You will not find your wand on your person, Luna," the voice said coolly.

Luna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Slowly wobbling to her feet, she said nothing. Out of habit, she reached up to twine her fingers in the chain of her necklace. It was then that she noticed it too was missing. She felt panic rising in her at this realization.

"Come around here. I want to see you."

Forcing her legs to move, she did as she was told, fearing only the sight of his face. And there he was, a snake-man who did not even resemble the boy she loved. He was pale and grotesque, thin and cold. His eyes were a piercing, frightening red, and his face looked like it had melted away. His eyes were locked on hers. It felt like a sock in the stomach. She couldn't possibly get enough air in her lungs, and she gasped loudly. Her legs threatened to give out on her again.

How cruel was fate that she should be allowed to see him again, and yet to make her see him like this?

His face was expressionless, but she heard him whisper, "It _is_ you." After long moments of silence, Voldemort said loudly, "When I began to realize I could see through Potter's mind, I never expected to see _you_." There was the slightest smirk on his lips, one that made Luna shiver all over again.

She found she could not break their eye contact, though she was aware he probably did not like it when people looked him in the eye anymore. Not his prisoners anyway.

"Oh, little Luna," he chuckled coldly. "Little Luna, little girl."

And suddenly, Luna was filled with a quiet anger she had never known before. "I'm not a little girl," she said quietly.

His eyes flashed with curiosity and amusement, but something else was there as well, something she couldn't place. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"I'm not a little girl," she repeated, louder this time. She curtsied deeply, then added, "My _Lord_." The spite in her voice was evident, but she had little fear of repercussions. If he killed her now, it would probably only be a sooner-rather-than-later type of situation besides.

She felt his long, cold fingers wrap all too gently around her chin and raise her from her curtsy. She thought she might vomit. "And where did your pretty little necklace go?" he breathed.

Finding his eyes again, she said, "One of your followers took it from me, I would assume."

His anger was just barely visible below the surface. "I was not told you had it on when you were captured."

"Dissension in the ranks," Luna whispered, willing him to take his hand away from her – and yet not quite willing to move out of his touch.

He stared at her for several long moments, and Luna refused to look away. Finally, he pried his fingers off of her face. "You may not have been a little girl to me then, but now I see you certainly are. Many years have gone by. I am much wiser."

"I don't need all those years to know things you'll never know." The words escaped her lips before she could stop them. She could taste the bitterness in her own voice.

The only sign of his discontent was that he slightly pursed his lips. "You are fortunate that I have learned to control my temper," he told her.

"Even if you hadn't, a wizard's binding promise not to harm someone never wears away. Not even after decades of time," Luna replied. Her tiny hands were balled into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

Voldemort stared at her for another moment. "You will join me for dinner tomorrow evening. You have much explaining to do, and I admit, I am curious." With a snap of his fingers, the door to his chamber opened again, and immediately the two Death Eaters from before filed in. "Return her to her chambers," he told the two men. "And Bella?"

The woman had clearly been outside the door the entire time as well. She now entered eagerly.

"Bring me the necklace the prisoner was found with."

Luna watched as Bellatrix's face contorted with rage, and she wondered briefly if Bellatrix would argue. But once again, the woman said, "Yes, my Lord," and exited.

Voldemort looked back to Luna. "Do not forget you are a prisoner of mine. You are a prisoner." His eyes were cold and distant as he said this.

Luna wrinkled her nose as she always had when she was displeased. "I think you're as much of a prisoner as I am," she said quietly.

He said nothing, but he continued to stare at her. Luna wondered how it was possible for one person to have so many layers of different things in their eyes all at the same time.

The two men came over as if to grab Luna, but she said, "I can walk now. Thank you." Her thanks, in her own strange way, was genuine, and it threw the men off guard for a moment. But then they regained composure and led her back to the room she had awoken in.

On the way back, Luna tried to memorize the twists and turns they took, but she got lost after only a few.

Avery and Mulciber, the two Death Eaters, opened the door to her room and shoved her unceremoniously inside. They never said a word to her.

Finally taking the time to look around her, Luna noticed her room had a small bed in it, and a small wardrobe. But she was not curious about either. Instead, she sat down in the middle of the cold stone floor and began to shake. Without even her necklace to comfort her, Luna felt completely and utterly alone.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry it's kinda short, but the next chapter is already on it's way. Here's what I want you guys to do in the mean time: Leave me a review with how YOU want this story to end. You can be as detailed or as vague as you want, I don't care. I'm not saying anything will change how I've got this planned in my head, but I'm curious as to what you guys think. Let me know!


	27. The Mind of a Dark Lord

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Mind of a Dark Lord

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry or his friends. If I did, I would be rich and I would buy myself a new car.

* * *

_"What was once thought can never be unthought."_  
--Carl J. Friedrich

* * *

As soon as she had left the room after the first encounter, his face fell slack. He slowly returned to his chair in front of the fireplace. Sinking down into it, his mind wandered.

Due to magic, mostly dark, and the way his humanity had waned from him over the years, Voldemort rarely felt his age. Occasionally, however, there were times when, whether brought on by physical fatigue or mental duress, he was forced into remembering that he was no longer a young man, but a wizard very nearly seventy. This was one of those times.

He had never supposed he would see her again. Oh, he had guessed some time ago that she had been from another time, but he had actively avoided searching for her. That would have meant admitting he needed her. Admitting_ that _lead to weakness, and weakness lead to failure. So even though he had heard the name Lovegood from time to time, he had refused to look into it. And, truth be told, he had convinced himself he wouldn't find her. He had spent hours forcing himself to believe that, if she had indeed travelled from another time, it was not this one. And everything had been going splendidly, with the exception of Potter – ah, but it always came back to Potter, didn't it? Potter was always the one upsetting Tom's plans.

If it hadn't been for Potter, he was certain he would not feel so old as he did now. And if it hadn't been for Potter, he could have gone right on believing that the Lovegoods he heard about had nothing to do with the Lovegood he had known.

How stupid he had been to allow himself that fantasy. To let himself believe she wasn't there – it was foolish. Of course it was her; he suspected that he really knew this the whole time. But his mind was like a cave: things got lost in it, if he sent them down the correct path. A sufficiently dark and gloomy one, where preferably the things he sent would never find their way out again.

His fingers gripped the arms of his chair tightly, the knuckles growing a slightly whiter shade than the rest of his hand.

He had known what he would see, hadn't he? He had known, somehow, that if he poked at Potter's mind long enough (and what a discovery it had been, to realize he could enter Potter's mind!), he would find what he was looking for.

Of _course _he had known. _A friend named Harry. A wizard war. And bizarre comments about me and my future, _he mentally ticked off. Of _course _he had known.

And yet...when he had entered Potter's mind that time, how surprised he had been to see those eyes again, to smell that smell.... Perhaps he was too successful at convincing himself.

Her smell...he felt his grip loosen on the chair as he thought of that. But then he recalled the concern in her eyes, the concern that had not been for him but for Potter. And while remembering how it had felt when she had been hugging Potter (hugging him?), with her small body pressed up against his, fitting like a glove, was not altogether unpleasant, it nearly sent him into a fit of fury thinking that it was Potter who had her now.

His lips came up in a sneer. But Potter didn't have her now did he?

Suddenly roaring with anger and perhaps a little bit of an old, dull pain, Tom stood from the chair and grabbed an ancient vase on the mantle of the fireplace. Pitching the vase into the fireplace, which was suddenly ablaze, he let out another feral sound like an injured cougar.

Of _course _Potter still had her, of _course _he did, of _course he did._

_You can put her in a cage and throw away the key, but that doesn't make her yours again,_ he thought furiously. _Isn't it perfectly natural that she should be Potter's now? Because isn't it perfectly natural for him to take everything from you? And isn't it natural – _and this thought pained him the most – _for her to want him? For her to want the hero?_

Oh, he had seen the way she looked at him, he had heard the spite in her voice, and smelled the fear seeping from her pores. In many ways, it only angered him, made him more convinced of the path he had chosen – and yet still, there was that dull ache, like a long-ignored pain.

Then Bellatrix had knocked on the door again. Immediately the emotion left his face and there was no trace of his turmoil in his voice when he bid her to come in.

He barely heard her as she simpered apologies, holding out a familiar piece of jewelry for him to take.

Tom was suddenly disgusted with her in a way he had not been in a long time. He summoned the stone, rather than take it from her directly and risk touching her. The moment the red stone touched his palm, he realized that he had never stopped thinking of Luna. Just because he hid things away in his mind did not mean they were no longer there.

He waved Bellatrix out without speaking to her. He once again returned to his chair, his eyes never leaving the necklace. It felt preternaturally warm in his hand. Gazing into it's dim glow, his mind wandered again, this time alighting on what would happen the next evening when he saw her again.

* * *

"Enter," came the low, cold voice Luna was already relearning to anticipate and dread. She was standing outside the same heavy door from the night before, flanked by another pair of Death Eaters. She was wearing the same clothes she had been kidnapped in, but a female Death Eater had come earlier and lead her to the bath. Luna had reveled at the feeling of being clean again, though the water had been icy. She had imagined tiny, miniscule water snakes nipping at her bare skin all over.

After her bath, Luna had returned to her room – or was it a cell? - and had discovered her necklace lying on the foot of her bed, the chain neatly laid out. She felt a glimmer of hope in her heart just at feeling the warm stone in her palm again, admiring the way it fit so perfectly there. Her heart then had leapt in fits and starts as she had realized that the stone was glowing as always. Though she was unsure if she wanted this new man to be thinking of her, she nevertheless draped the necklace around her throat with a kind of ardent exultation.

But that had been several hours ago, and this was now, and now she was standing in front of the damned door again, waiting to have the all-important DINNER that he had requested. She fingered the necklace nervously, glad to have at least something familiar in a place where she was alone and scared.

"Enter," he had said. It amused and amazed her how much just one word could make her shiver and recoil. And it was such an innocent word, really. _Enter. There's nothing conspicuous or threatening about that, _she mused. But it did make her shiver and recoil. Yes, and while it did make her do that, it also made her feel a certain eagerness that made her wonder if she had any sense of self-preservation at all.

The door swung open, like the mouth of a beast waiting to swallow her up, because people like her (the ones without any sense of self-preservation) must taste so delicious. She had expected to be terrified. She had not expected the lovely table set before her, and it looked as though all her favorite foods were there. There was, among other things, a dish with asparagus in balsamic vinegar; a platter of sweet rolls; silver goblets filled nearly to the brim with sparkling grape juice; and a plate piled high with bacon, sitting next to an elegant pitcher of syrup. It was the strangest dinner she'd seen, but that was what made it so lovely.

The only thing missing was the man who had invited her here.


	28. Finding Solace

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Finding Solace

* * *

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Harry Potter, I would have written in many more Tom scenes. You know. Because he's um. Interesting. And junk.

A/N: So the quote accompanying this chapter is a humorous quote, but it fits in this situation as well, doesn't it?

And that's all I'm going to say. I'm absolutely not going to mention how it's been almost a year since I updated this and how much I fail as an author.

If you've a) forgotten about this story or b) remember it vaguely but forgot what has happened lately, here's a quick recap: Luna got captured in Hogsmeade and now she's Voldy's lil' prisoner, and he invited her to dinner _Beauty and the Beast_-style, and that's where this craptastic chapter picks up.

This is one of those kind of sexy chapters, and I hope y'all dig it. The reason this story sort of died was because I felt like nothing was happening and I didn't know how to make it move. So if all of this seems all-of-a-sudden, that's because I kind of gave this the story-version of coke and hoped it would _go_. It did. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

_"Women give us solace, but if it were not for women we should never need solace."  
--Don Herold_

* * *

"Well, that's interesting," Luna said mildly, after standing for a moment frozen in the doorway. She was staring at the young man seated at the table. A young man who looked not a day over seventeen, with dark hair, an aristocratic nose, a strong jaw line, and slightly hollowed cheeks. And red eyes.

A slow smile, one she did not trust, spread on his face. "It's rather simple magic, really," he responded. "To reflect your memories of me back at you. To appear as you remember me. I've done much more impressive things in my time, as I'm sure you know." He gestured to the chair at the opposite end of the table from him, expecting her to sit.

Luna felt herself moving forward towards the chair, but her eyes were fixed on his face. A face she had never expected to see again. She seated herself quietly. After a moment she asked, "What's the point of it?"

That sickening smile grew wider, but he said nothing.

She could feel her nose crinkling in displeasure but quickly forced it to stop. If he wasn't going to give anything away, she wouldn't either. She made herself look away from his handsome face and calmly reached out and began to fill her plate with food. She was finding it difficult to stop herself from going and touching him. As she raised her goblet to her lips she realized her hand was shaking, so she quickly put the goblet down again.

"Look at me."

Her eyes snapped up to his face before she thought about it. As she looked again, she felt as if something cold had clamped down on her heart, but she kept her face carefully blank.

"Is this really what you remember me as?" he asked, peering at his reflection in his own silver goblet, seeming to inspect his face.

"I recall blue eyes," she replied simply.

The eyes in question shifted to gaze at her face, one corner of his mouth curling into a smirk. "Indeed."

When he kept staring at her as if he expected her to say something, she swallowed audibly. "You know, just because you look like Tom Riddle doesn't mean that's who you are. You left him behind a long time ago," she said slowly and clearly.

He chuckled and Luna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He looked back at himself in the goblet. "I can see why. I did look so...human. Much less menacing, I must say."

Luna said nothing, though she wondered in some part of her mind if her food was getting cold. She then realized she wasn't very hungry.

Setting the goblet down, his eyes returned to her. "And yet I dare say you found me _handsome_."

Aware he was mocking her, she merely held his gaze, which took nearly all of her willpower. She noticed his jaw tighten ever so slightly, and she mused that he was no longer accustomed to people making eye contact with him. She made a conscious effort not to blink.

"Eat," he ordered finally.

"I'm not very hungry," she replied honestly.

Tom – no, Voldemort, she mentally corrected herself – raised one eyebrow at her. "Eat," he repeated.

Luna looked down at her plate. Even her favorite foods didn't look appetizing. But she forced herself to pick up a piece of bacon and take a bite out of it. She chewed slowly, not tasting the food. She swallowed. She forced herself to take another bite. Chew. Swallow. Bite. Chew. Swallow.

At some point, he began to eat as well, though she could feel his eyes on her at all times. When she took a sip of her juice, she glanced up at him over the rim of her goblet and immediately wished she hadn't. She couldn't believe how painful it was to see his face. Setting her goblet down, she again asked, "What's the point? To hurt me?"

He smiled wickedly again, and admonished, "I'm going to be the one asking questions."

"Have I ever answered your questions?" she chided quietly.

"No. But you will." His smile widened, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth. Luna looked down at her plate. Anywhere but his face. He continued, "You must know that dear Bella would be happy to carry out any punishment deemed necessary, even if I am...unable to."

"I'm certain she would," Luna replied matter-of-factly. "Are you glad you found a way around your promise not to harm me?"

"Very little pleases me," he answered in a way that made her wonder if he'd really meant to say it out loud.

"I feel sad for you then," she said. "More than anything, I feel sad for you."

Tom's jaw tightened again. "Perhaps you should be sad for yourself," he suggested. "You, after all, are the one who finds yourself captive and powerless."

Her huge gray eyes flicked up to meet his gaze as she said, "Oh, I don't think anyone is ever powerless."

He paused, studying her, finding himself suddenly stranded in her gaze. "That's the kind of thought I should expect from you," he said after a moment.

Standing suddenly, he crossed over to her quickly, his long legs carrying him the length of the table in only a few strides. He reached long fingers out and grasped the stone that hung around her neck, inspecting it. It glowed as red and warm as ever.

Finding the face she had so missed so close proved nearly irresistible to Luna. She stood from her chair as well. Her right hand rose of it's own volition towards his face, and she only managed to stop herself a few inches away. Her hand hung in the air awkwardly, visible proof of how she still longed for her own Tom back.

Tom watched her reaction to his proximity with triumphant glee. "Luna, you are more powerless than you know," he murmured to her in a deep voice filled with dark seduction. He dropped the necklace and wrapped his fingers around the wrist of her hovering hand, then brought it to his mouth. He kissed the tip of her index finger gently. Luna's stomach turned almost violently, but she was – to use his word – powerless to stop him.

Then he dropped her hand, as though discarding her, and turned on his heel and left the room.

* * *

Several days passed before she saw him again. She had been taken back to her room after the dinner and had not left since. Meals were brought to her regularly, but beyond that she had little idea of how much time passed. At some point, she'd heard shouting and commotion out in the halls beyond her door, disturbing the usual quiet of the place, but that died down eventually. Shortly after that, she was beginning to wonder if she would ever see the outside of her cell again and had begun refusing food when the door to her room swung open. A masked death eater stood there.

"The Dark Lord wishes to see you," he said in clipped tones.

Luna rose quickly, sensing that something was wrong. Her head swam, and she teetered momentarily before regaining her balance. The death eater grabbed her arm and towed her along without another word. Halfway to their destination, Luna noticed that her guard was walking with a limp.

"Are you all right?" she asked sincerely.

The death eater's face turned towards her, though she couldn't see his face behind his mask. He took a moment before answering. "I'm fine."

"Have you injured your leg?" she pressed.

"No, one of the Weasley brats injured my leg, thank you very much."

Luna's heart leapt suddenly. "Which Weasley? What happened?"

"Jugson, that's enough," came a sharp female voice.

Luna and Jugson both looked up to see Bellatrix Lestrange in the corridor in front of them.

"I'll have to inform the Dark Lord that you were giving the prisoner information," Bellatrix said coldly.

"I haven't got time for this just now, Lestrange, I'm on an errand," Jugson replied, his dislike for the woman apparent, though his fear was as well.

"What would that be?" Bellatrix demanded.

"Bringing this one to the Dark Lord," Jugson said, gesturing to Luna.

"And what for?"

"As if it's any of your damn business, woman. Now out of my way, or I'll have to inform the Dark Lord that it was you delaying me in bringing this little one to him."

Bellatrix hovered for a moment indecisively before glaring and continuing on her way, brushing forcefully past Luna.

Luna and Jugson finally stopped in front of the now-familiar door. The door swung open immediately.

"Leave her, and get out," came Tom's voice from within, though the room was dark except for the fire burning in the grate as usual.

Jugson did as he was told, and the door slammed shut behind him, leaving Luna alone in the room with Tom, whose back was to her as he gazed into the fire. As soon as the door shut, Tom strode away from the fire through a side door into another room.

"Come here," he said, not bothering to look at her over his shoulder. She had not seen his face, but she still had the feeling that something had happened and that something was wrong.

She followed him into the other room, which she found was better lit and apparently his personal chambers. A large four-poster bed dominated the room, entirely decked out in a deep emerald green. Tom had perched himself on the foot of the bed, leaning forward with elbows on his knees.

His brows were drawn together over stormy eyes. Even his usually immaculate hair was mussed. And he was staring at her in the doorway as if she were prey.

"What's happened?" she asked, suddenly fearful.

"Come here," he repeated instead of answering.

"What's wrong?" she questioned him again, but found herself moving forward shakily. "Something's happened, hasn't it? I can feel it." She knew she must have wrackspurts in her brain, what with the way her head was spinning and how she was actively moving towards the most dangerous thing in the world. As she crossed towards him, however, she caught sight of herself in a floor length mirror beside the bed and was completely and utterly distracted from the man sitting in front of her.

Perhaps her head was spinning because she hadn't been eating.

There were deep, dark rings beneath her eyes that stood out against her skin, which seemed paler than usual. Her blue-gray eyes seemed flat and lacked shine, and her hair was straggly and dull. "I look awful," she said, staring at her reflection. She raised her hands to her cheeks and rubbed harshly, trying to get some color into her face.

"I wasn't aware you were prone to vanity," Tom replied scathingly from where he was seated.

"I look _ill_," she replied.

"Perhaps if you ate the food you were given you would look healthier."

Luna inched closer to the mirror and rubbed her eyes. "I'm not hungry," she said simply.

"Pining over your hero?" he said, his voice icy beneath the mocking.

Luna froze, remembering forcefully that something had happened. Something that she suspected had to do with Harry, the Weasleys, and the rest of her friends. Something big, if Voldemort was acting so strangely. She remained facing the mirror, disturbed by the possibilities as well as her own appearance. She answered carefully, "Pining over all of them. I miss them all. You know that."

"Of course I know," he said, not revealing any information as she had hoped he would.

"Will you tell me what's happened?" she asked quietly.

"No."

"Then why have you brought me here?" She could see his gaze fall to the floor in the mirror's reflection, but he said nothing.

Exhaling heavily, Luna placed her palms flat against the mirror. "I really don't look well," she said, changing the subject, knowing she would get nowhere.

"Then eat," he replied tersely, enunciating each word. He rose from the bed and crossed the room to look in the mirror at her over her shoulder. "You'll get handprints on my mirror," he said.

That reminded Luna so strongly of the young Tom that she laughed, though it felt hollow and frail. "In some ways you've not changed at all," she said.

He frowned and raised an eyebrow at her in the mirror, but said nothing.

She removed her hands from the surface of the mirror, and there were indeed two small handprints on the glass. Instinctively, she reached for her wand behind her ear to do a quick cleaning spell, but remembered at the last second she was wandless. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger instead, trying to rid her head of all the horrible scenarios of what had possibly occurred. If he wouldn't tell her, there was no sense in speculating. But she couldn't seem to help it. And she really did look unwell.

Tom took a stealthy step closer to her. She was focused on the bags beneath her eyes when she felt his hands come to rest on her shoulders. She froze, feeling him exhale on the back of her neck. Her eyes dropped to her feet. This was the closest he had been to her in what felt like forever, and she was unsure what his intentions were or how to react.

"Oh, I don't know," he murmured, and she had a creeping feeling that he most definitely _did_ know. "You look...good enough."

Cool fingers ghosted along her shoulders, down her arms, and then back again. Luna made to turn to face him, but his fingers clamped down on her shoulders, holding her as she was. She looked up and finally met his red eyes in the mirror, and she instantly knew why he'd called for her, what he wanted.

And she knew she would give it to him.

Tom's hands slid forward on her shoulders and came to the first button on her blouse. Long, thin fingers deftly undid it, his eyes all the while watching her face in the mirror intently. Slowly, he moved to the next button, then the next, and the next. As more of her skin came in to view, she watched his hands, fascinated, and made no attempt to stop him.

His fingers kept brushing against her skin as he undid her blouse, and she felt as if her senses were hyper-aware. Each time their skin touched, an electric energy seemed to crackle between them.

She knew he was doing this to escape, to hide, to forget whatever had happened that had so bothered him. She knew she shouldn't let him. But again, she felt powerless to stop him. And a nagging thought in the back of her head told her that even if she could, she wouldn't.

He finally reached the last button, then slid her shirt down her shoulders, agonizingly slow. Her arms free, he carelessly tossed it to the side. He wrapped his hands around her upper arms and roughly pulled her back against him. She exhaled sharply, the suddenness of the force surprising her, as he had been so gentle. He lowered his lips to her bare shoulder, his mouth surprisingly cool.

Luna felt as though her knees would give out in a minute, and when he suddenly bit down harshly on the part where her neck met her shoulder, they nearly did. She leaned back against him without thought. As she did so, she could feel his lips curve languidly into a smile against her skin. She shuddered and wondered whether she could live with the consequences of what she'd started. Because she knew there was no stopping it.


	29. Submission

**Into Your Gravity  
**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Submission

**

* * *

**

**Disclaimer**: The army of flesh-eating gerbils previously mentioned in disclaimers has been reduced to a remaining few old, grumpy gerbils who no longer have the energy to or particularly care about eating flesh. I still own them, and I still do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: This chapter picks up immediately after the last one.

* * *

_Could I kiss you and make you a queen   
Or something in between?    
Do you want to see it?  
The place where I was free?  
'Cause in my mind I need it  
But you're nowhere near to me.  
_--Augustana, "Twenty Years"

_

* * *

_

Luna made a vague attempt to speak after he'd spun her around to finally face him, but he quickly interrupted her. "Don't be a blabbermouth," he hissed. She remembered saying the same thing, though she couldn't recall sounding so bitter when she'd done so. She guessed he was throwing the words back in her face, but she couldn't bring herself to feel indignant or even really think critically about it when he used her hair to pull her head back so he could get better access to her neck.

Her hands weaved into his hair. In response, he tugged harder on hers. It hurt. She ran her fingers down his neck, trying to provoke him to do it again. He did, all the while attacking her neck and collarbone with a flurry of kisses and teeth.

She felt as if she were quickly spiraling out of control, and yet he remained so calm. She tried to pull his face towards hers to kiss him properly, but he reacted fiercely, grasping her wrists suddenly, growling. "You will not," he commanded. He swung her around and backed her up slowly, step by step, until her knees hit the edge of the bed and she was forced to sit.

He took this time to undress her completely, then stood back and seemed to inspect her. Luna was shivering and sweating at the same time, feeling both fuzzy and sharp. Red eyes crawled over her, and then in the next moment, Luna found herself flat on her back with Tom above her. He hadn't bothered to undress, and they were sprawled across the bed rather than lying on it properly. And he wasn't being gentle, but Luna felt everything so acutely, felt pleasure and pain intermingling, felt what he felt, felt _him_. It was overwhelming. He was using her, using her body, but really she knew she was using him as well. She nuzzled her nose into his neck, and as she let him take her, she was so busy inhaling his scent, reveling in him, breathing him in, that she didn't notice his face buried in her hair as he did the exact same.

* * *

Luna woke alone, in a cold, empty bed. It took her a moment to remember that he had told her to sleep and then had left, without looking at her. She sat up, and her head spun once again. She put a hand to her forehead to steady herself.

"There's food in here, if you happened to have changed your mind about avoiding any form of nutrition," came Tom's voice from the other room.

She briefly wondered how he had known she was awake, then attributed it to the fact that the lines between _him_ and _her_ had become blurred during the night. She then found that she actually was hungry for the first time in days, voraciously so. Pushing the sheets back and swinging her feet to the floor, she noticed a silk robe lying at the foot of the bed. She grabbed it and put it on, stifling a smile about the domesticity of the Dark Lord offering her breakfast. _No_, she corrected herself, _there is nothing domestic about this._ She cinched the tie around her waist and padded out of the bedroom.

Tom was seated in his armchair, staring at an empty grate. Nagini had reappeared and wound herself around him and the chair, resting her head on his arm, which he did not seem to mind. He had his chin propped on one fist, and he appeared lost in thought. He didn't acknowledge Luna when she entered. Nagini lifted her head for a moment to see who had come in, then, upon deciding Luna was either not a threat or simply uninteresting, laid her head back down.

Luna made her way over to the table and immediately sat down to eat. She ate ravenously, finding that her plate refilled itself whenever she'd emptied it. As she ate, she wondered if she could get him to tell her what had happened. She wasn't sure what sort of mood he was in – if he was more like last night or more like the Dark Lord. His moods changed so rapidly and violently, and he was nearly perfect at keeping them hidden until it was too late. He was merely ignoring her at the moment, which was not a helpful sign either way.

Finally, she just decided to ask and see what happened. The nerves the silence was causing to build in her stomach would only get worse the longer she drew it out. Clearing her throat to get his attention, she said quite politely, "Would you mind terribly telling me what has happened that has caused you so much distress?"

Nagini hissed at her grumpily as she spoke, as Luna's voice had disturbed her. Luna was painfully reminded of Othello hissing whenever she woke him up as well, and hoped desperately that Neville or Ginny was taking decent care of him. If they were even safe, that was.

"I am aware that it is pointless to deny that something has affected me, but I would not use the word distressed," Tom replied unhelpfully, his voice carrying an echo of chill.

Luna rose from the table and made her way around his chair so that she could see him. He still stared, unseeing, at the grate. Luna made quick eye contact with Nagini, to gain her permission to get closer, which Nagini apparently granted by closing her eyes to sleep again. Kneeling down in front of him to force him to look at her, Luna said quietly, "Please. Please tell me. I need to know."

Finally meeting her eye, he said, "You need to know if your precious Order is safe, don't you?" Luna could hear traces of fatigue in his voice, buried beneath the cold.

"Yes," she said, unapologetic. "But I also am curious because of the way it's...affected you," she admitted. When he still said nothing, she threw out her last weapon, knowing it would either infuriate him or please him. "My – my lord. Please."

He seemed to have no reaction beyond a slight narrowing of his eyes when he looked at her. "Your Order friends attacked here. Undoubtedly in an attempt to rescue you," he finally said acridly.

"They were here?" she questioned, though she wasn't particularly surprised. That would explain everything. And she had known Harry would do something to try to save her. It was in his nature. She wondered if he would still save her if he knew...well, of course he would. He was Harry.

* * *

Tom watched her eyes very carefully as he told her the news. It enraged him that she was so utterly preoccupied with Harry Potter. "Yes, they were here." He knew what she would ask next.

"Are they all right?" she asked, just as he knew she would.

"You'll be pleased to know that many more death eaters were killed than Order members," he bit out. Nagini, sensing the change in his mood, raised her head again to his level to also glare down at Luna.

"No, that doesn't please me," Luna replied calmly. "Death never pleases me."

She was always catching him off guard. How could she do that when no one else could? He raised a hand and stroked Nagini's head with a single finger to calm her, soothing his own nerves as well.

"Who died? Please tell me, I beg -"

"Don't beg," he spat. "It disgusts me."

"I'm sorry," she said, nonplussed. "I thought you liked begging."

Her sheer lack of sarcasm annoyed him. "Potter and the Weasley brats are all fine. Bellatrix nearly killed Longbottom, but he got away at the last moment. Does that cover everyone you care about?" he intoned. His patience had ended.

Luna seemed to sense that she shouldn't ask anything else. "Thank you," she whispered. Her voice was so sincere, and it shot another wave of cold hate for Potter through him to know that she was so worried for his enemy. Again, she caught him off guard by laying her head carefully on his knee. She blinked up at him gratefully and almost...fondly. Whatever loathing she undoubtedly held for him was currently being dominated by other emotions. At the moment, she was a perfect picture of submission, though deep down he was aware that she was the one force he could not contain.

"They didn't get to you, but they caused significant damage along the way by catching us by surprise," he was saying, unsure of why he was volunteering the information. "Our numbers were severely decreased. We couldn't withstand another attack." He forced himself to regain his control and stopped speaking.

Luna, for her part, said nothing, merely absorbing what he'd said and taking note of the way the muscles in his thigh tensed and relaxed and seemed to flow with energy. She now at least understood why he had been so eager to escape in her last night. He was afraid. He was, for the first time, considering the possibility that he might not win the war he'd started.

Nagini had been moving without detection since Luna had laid her head on his knee. Only when the snake laid her head on his other knee did Voldemort notice her movement. The serpent had slithered to include Luna in her coils, leaving the two humans in a living entwinement. Looking down at his lap, with slitted, feral eyes watching him from one knee, and seas of blue eyes watching from the other, his hands moved towards each of them simultaneously. Both Nagini and Luna rose to meet his touch.


	30. Blame

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter Thirty: Blame

* * *

**Disclaimer**: My army of non-flesh-eating gerbils has officially become extinct. They are no more. Some things change, and some things, like me not owning HP, do not.

A/N: Short, but the next one is almost completely written. This is the second to last chapter. WHAT? No, really.  
Quick question: How long have you been reading this story? I'm wondering if anyone's really stuck with it for a long time. Let me know.

* * *

_"All I ever learned from love_  
_Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you._  
_It's not a cry you can hear at night,_  
_It's not somebody who's seen the light;_  
_It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah."_  
-Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

* * *

Luna tilted her cheek into his hand, then paused, realizing what she was doing. This was unacceptable. He was not the boy she had known. He was the murderer of thousands. The evil that kept all the good people looking over their shoulders. He had killed loved ones, and loved ones of loved ones. Of all the dead, Cedric Diggory flew into her mind. Cedric had once told his friends off for making fun of her in her first year. They never spoke, but from then on he'd smiled at her every time they passed in the corridor. And he was dead. Good people were dead.

And here Luna was...acknowledging this man as her lord? Loving every inch of his pale, handsome face? Sleeping in his bed?

She felt his eyes on her but she refused to look up at him. She couldn't. She was glad there wasn't a mirror around because the only thing worse than looking at him would be looking at herself right now.

"I'm going to be sick," she said calmly, before rising and padding quickly to the bedroom, then the bathroom. She had just knelt in front of the toilet when she vomited all her breakfast right back up.

The heaving finally subsided. She stayed on the ground for a moment, feeling some overpowering sense of absurdity at being in Voldemort's bathroom. Was he even human enough to need it anymore? She laughed shakily, but gagged on the laughter and heaved again. She was suddenly wishing desperately for Harry.

After a while, she felt well enough to leave the bathroom. She washed up in the sink, avoiding making eye contact with her reflection in the ornate mirror above it. When she emerged, it was to find Voldemort speaking with three death eaters, one of whom was Bellatrix. She seemed delighted. Luna frowned. That couldn't mean anything good.

Bellatrix's smile faltered when she saw Luna coming out of the bedroom in a robe. Another second and it had devolved into horror. Then she seemed to remember something and she grinned wickedly once more. "I've got a secret," she sang to Luna.

Luna's curiosity piqued in spite of herself. "And what's that?" she asked politely. Her eyes flickered to Tom's face, but he seemed emotionless, distant, and cold. He was observing the conversation as though he had nothing better to do, but he wasn't particularly interested.

"Wouldn't be much of a secret if I told you, now would it?" Bellatrix giggled, crossing the room towards Luna.

"I suppose not," Luna conceded. "Although you seem to be wanting to tell me."

Bellatrix reeled in a snarl, then reached out to play with Luna's hair. Luna, for her part, watched her carefully but didn't move away.

"I bet you're a daddy's little girl," Bellatrix said thoughtfully, her eyes glinting and a smile tugging the corners of her lips as she twirled Luna's golden hair through her fingers.

Luna tried once again to read any emotion from Tom's face, but he only quirked an eyebrow at her unhelpfully. Returning her attention to the woman next to her, Luna said, "My mother died when I was young. It's always been me and my father."

Bellatrix apparently thought this was hysterically funny, and she doubled over in her mirth. Luna was beginning to get a sense of foreboding about whatever Bella's secret was. The two male death eaters who were still standing near Voldemort weren't wearing masks, and she could clearly see that they were amused as well.

"Will you tell me your secret?" Luna asked after a long moment where the only sound was Bellatrix's laughter.

The black-haired woman straightened up, seeming to get a control on her amusement. "Let's suppose," she began gleefully, "that your dear daddy, crazy old man that he is, happened to get one of his stupid stories right and knew where we are. What do you think he'd do?"

Luna froze. If her father knew where she was right now, knew how to actually get here, he'd come without thinking about it. He'd never been very good at taking care of himself. He lost so much weight while she was away during each school year because she wasn't around to make sure he ate properly. Of course he'd come barging to this place, wherever it was, if he knew. "But he didn't know, did he?" she managed to say after a moment, hoping that Bellatrix was trying to lead her on.

The grin on Bellatrix's face made Luna's heart skip a beat. "Turns out, all your daddy's 'informants' weren't so wrong. Guess who showed up a few hours ago?" Bellatrix said, clapping her hands with glee at Luna's stunned face.

Luna looked back to Voldemort for the third time, hoping against hope he would say something. But he was still as stoic as ever. "My dad's here?" she asked him.

Bellatrix answered, "Well, he was."

Still unable to move her eyes from Tom's face, Luna felt her mind slowing down as she realized what Bellatrix was so happy about. But she had to hear it, she had to have it confirmed. "What do you mean, 'was?'" she whispered.

"Not much left of him, I'm afraid," Bellatrix said with a low cackle.

Luna felt like she couldn't breathe. "You killed my father," she said accusingly at Voldemort. He stared back at her, his eyes burning red and somehow cold at the same time. Luna wrapped her small hand around the stone of her necklace, feeling her skin prickle at its warmth. She gave a sharp tug, snapping the chain at the back of her neck. She dropped the stone on the ground as though disgusted, feeling an overpowering need for it to not be touching her skin anymore. "You killed my father," she repeated.

"Well, actually, I did," Bellatrix added, quasi-helpful.

Finally, Luna looked back at the other woman. "No. He did," she told her. "You don't do anything. It's all him." Without another word, Luna turned away from Bellatrix's rather bewildered face and made her way back to the bathroom where she was sick all over again.

* * *

"We've got to go back _tonight_!" Harry yelled, slamming his fist on the table. He glared at the Order members sitting around him. "Our best shot is to surprise them again while they're still off-balance!"

"Harry," Lupin said, trying to reason with him, "we lost members last night. Many are in mourning, and I haven't been able to get in contact with Xenophilius since two days ago. You can't ask -"

"The hell I can't," Harry interrupted. "We'll only lose more if we wait for them to regroup."

"You're being rash. Do you think Luna would want for us to risk so many lives over and over?" Lupin said.

Harry paused. Would she want that? No. But it didn't matter. At this point, it had become an irrational personal vendetta, with Luna simply being the rope in a match of tug-of-war. Whoever had her had a victory over the other. And Harry wasn't willing to let her go.

"I won't go tonight," Harry said slowly. "But I am going tomorrow night. You lot don't have to go with me. But I'm going."

Ron nodded resolutely, sitting at Harry's side. On his other side, Hermione took a deep breath. Tonks let her face drop into her hands. Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed, but said, "You know we'll be going with you."

Harry nodded. "Good. Then let's get ready."

* * *

Luna lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling for hours. The two men who had been talking to Voldemort had brought her back to her cell after she'd finally finished vomiting. She had left without looking at Tom. She couldn't.

She felt somewhat separate from her body, as if the things happening to her were actually happening to someone else. She understood that her father was dead, but she couldn't seem to fully digest it. It seemed impossible to her that he was not out there somewhere, alive, doing something, thinking something, seeing something. That he was just gone. She hadn't cried, and she had a feeling she probably wouldn't. Some things were beyond tears.

She noticed the missing weight on her chest where the necklace usually lay, but she was glad it was gone. She wanted her thoughts to be for her father, for Harry, for Neville, for the Weasleys, for those who she loved and had actually loved her. For the ones who had brought light in her life rather than darkness. He shouldn't have changed his appearance. Such ugliness shouldn't come in pretty packages. She bit her lip to send a jolt of pain to her brain, to try to distract it from the pain in her heart.

She rolled over so that she was staring at the door. She had exhausted all the patterns in the ceiling. Perhaps there were some in the grain of the door.

Hours later, she finally fell asleep.


	31. Cause and Effect

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter Thirty-One: Cause and Effect

* * *

**Disclaimer**: Well, I mailed a politely-written, thought-provoking letter to JKR's attorney, asking him to pass along my request that JKR consider my proposal of handing over the rights to me. I thought she might consider it, seeing as I'm a poor college student with little income and no discernible life skills that will raise me from the poverty level, but I haven't heard back. I'm slightly discouraged, as the postage it took to mail the package all the way to the UK cost about a meal, and I hope that sits on her conscience for a while. In any case, the fact remains that I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I know I said this would be the last chapter but I LIED. There's one more. I had to put in all this depressing stuff, and it all got too long in comparison to all the other chapter, so I split it in two. Also, you can thank the Harry Potter movies for inspiring me to write again. I adore you all.

* * *

_"And who do you think you are_  
_Running 'round leaving scars_  
_Collecting your jar of hearts_  
_And tearing love apart?_  
_You're gonna catch a cold_  
_From the ice inside your soul._  
_So don't come back for me._  
_Who do you think you are?"_  
-Christina Perri, "Jar of Hearts"

* * *

Luna was woken up late the next morning by Jugson. He wasn't wearing a mask, and having never seen his face before, she only recognized him by his Scottish accent as he shook her awake.

"Wake up," he said, his gruff voice oddly gentle.

Bleary-eyed, Luna blinked herself into consciousness. "How's your leg?" she asked sleepily.

He snorted. "It's fine. Got it tended to. The wife wasn't pleased."

Luna looked more closely at his face. If she had met him and his wife in a shop, she would never have known he was a death eater. She wanted to ask how he'd become one, and she was about to do so, but before she could, he was shoving a plate full of food at her.

"Eat up, little one. Don't know why you're still alive, but so long as you are, you ought to stay healthy," he remarked, eyeing her frail frame disapprovingly.

"Why do you care?" she asked, though she obligingly took a bite.

"You remind me of my daughter, though you're a bit older than she is," he admitted brusquely, then shook his head. "You eat all that quick now; we have to leave."

The food in her mouth seemed to turn to ash at his mentioning his daughter, and an ache rocked her heart, but she was distracted as he revealed they were leaving. "What? Where are we going?" she asked.

"None of your business, you ought to know that. Snape brought word that the Order's planning another attack tonight, and the Dark Lord thought it best that we move to another location."

Luna absorbed this information silently. Professor Snape was a triple agent. Anything he told Voldemort, he told him strategically. Or because he had to. Her stomach clenched at the thought of it being tortured out of him; but no, the way Jugson had said it had made it sound as though it had been voluntary. Which had to mean that any move Voldemort made would be preempted by the Order.

A small flutter of hope bloomed in her chest at the thought of seeing her friends again. Hadn't Voldemort told her that another attack might be too much for the death eaters to handle?

Bellatrix suddenly breezed in through the door, obviously checking up on them. "Not telling her anything confidential again, are we, Jugson?" she cooed.

Luna's nose wrinkled in disgust, and for the first time, she wished she had her wand just for the purpose of cursing someone into oblivion. She blinked as she realized this, and she supposed she'd been spending too much time with the wrong sort of witches and wizards. The realization did not, however, ease her rage.

Jugson answered, "Not anything the Dark Lord probably wouldn't tell her himself." There was overt mocking in his voice, an illicit implication, and he was clearly taking great pleasure in the fact that Luna was somehow in Voldemort's favor, much to Bella's dismay.

In a flash, Bellatrix had her wand drawn and pointed at Jugson.

"And just what are you doing, Bella?" came Tom's voice, as he appeared in the doorway that she had left ajar.

A look of horror crossed her face, and she spun around, dropping her wand to her side and bowing her head. "Nothing, my lord," she simpered.

"Go make yourself useful, and leave Jugson to the duty he was assigned," Voldemort said shortly, his eyes flashing.

"Yes, my lord. Thank you." Bellatrix left quickly, but took the time to toss a glare at Luna and Jugson over her shoulder, her eyes flashing behind wild black hair.

Jugson had stood when Voldemort had entered the room, and he now bowed. "Just finishing her breakfast, and then she'll be ready, my lord," he said to the floor.

"Good. And if you ever purposefully bait Bellatrix again, you will not be able to stand as you are now," Tom said smoothly. "It isn't a wise thing to do, whether I'm present or not." To Luna's horror, Bellatrix's violent nature seemed to amuse him.

"Understood, my lord," the other man replied, bowing lower.

Voldemort's eyes shifted to where Luna was sitting on the bed, but she was studiously ignoring him in favor of her breakfast plate. He returned his gaze to Jugson and said, "Wait outside the door."

Jugson nodded and shuffled out into the corridor, pulling the heavy wood door closed behind him.

Tom waited until the door was shut, then said, "I'm certain Jugson's already told you that we are leaving this headquarters."

She nodded silently, acting very interested in the slice of bacon in her fingers.

He reached into the pocket of his jet black robes and pulled out her necklace, the chain newly mended. He held it out to her. When she didn't take it, he said, "Put it on."

"I don't want it," she said quietly, her voice bitter.

The next second, and Tom's long fingers were wrapped around her chin, forcing her into eye contact. She dropped the bacon in surprise. "I didn't ask if you wanted it. You'll put it on, and you'll keep it on," he said in a low, carefully contained voice.

She swallowed hard, staring in his eyes, which seemed less bright than usual, in addition to his lack of patience. She was unwilling to risk her life when she was so close to seeing her friends again. "Fine," she whispered.

He released her, dropping the necklace in her lap. "Now. Let's go."

"We're leaving right now?" she asked as she obediently put the necklace on, feeling its familiar weight and warmth.

"Yes. Up," he replied shortly as he swept towards the door and opened it. "Jugson, put her out."

"Yes, my lord," Jugson answered, pulling his wand out.

Luna had time to say, "Excuse me?" before she was knocked out.

* * *

Luna woke up mid-afternoon. She was lying on a dusty, moth-eaten bed, the sheets of which looked as if they hadn't been touched in decades. As she sat up to look around, a puff of dust rose from the mattress and made her sneeze. The room she was in looked like a spare bedroom of what once had been a fancy manor. The furnishings were grand, but as dusty as the bed and in disrepair. The window had been boarded shut.

She was just looking at the portraits on the wall, which weren't moving, so this had to be a muggle's house, when the door opened. Tom walked in and it seemed as if the temperature itself dropped a few degrees.

Avoiding looking at him, she inspected the nearest portrait closely. It was dusty as everything in the room, and she reached up to wipe some of the grime away so she could see it properly as he spoke.

"Has Jugson been in with any food?" he asked as he shut the door once more.

"Not since I've been awake, which has only been a few minutes," she replied, peering at the family in the portrait. "Is that you?" she asked suddenly. The young man in the painting looked almost exactly like Tom. He was standing next to two older people who she assumed were his parents.

"No. That's my father." Ice had crept into his voice, and he crossed the room to look at the portrait over her shoulder.

"I'm assuming you killed him as soon as I left," she said, turning toward him. She was beginning to wonder why he'd come in. It was almost like he was hovering.

"Indeed."

Luna frowned. "You have a bad habit of killing fathers."

He shot her a glare. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Only if you think killing fathers is funny," she replied.

"Bellatrix killed your father," he growled. "And not on my orders."

"And you wouldn't have done it if she hadn't?" Luna demanded. She continued to make unabashed eye contact, something he was still clearly not used to. His whole manner seemed tense.

"She did. Playing a game of 'what if' is irrelevant," he replied, looking down his nose at her.

"That's a non-answer," she shot back.

Tom ground his teeth together. "You do realize that if you were anyone else, you would be dead by now."

"Kill me, then. I'd rather be anyone else," she whispered, her eyes falling to the floor.

He said nothing for a moment, reaching out and tracing the shape of the stone that hung around her neck against her will. "You would rather be dead," he repeated.

Luna didn't answer and wouldn't look at him. Her heart was aching, and she was disgusted with herself that she still cared for the boy living inside this monster. Her head ached painfully. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Snape had told the Order where they were, and she would either be free or dead by tomorrow.

Suddenly, she was pressed back against the wall, and Tom's face was centimeters away from hers. He looked utterly furious, and she felt her heart skip into a rapid beat. "Snape works for the Order?" he managed to spit out.

The blood drained out of Luna's face. "You were doing Legilimency!" she said accusingly, realizing her mistake too late.

Voldemort released her and began pacing the room. She hadn't seen him so frantically angry since they had been in school together. "So," he seethed, "dear old Severus works for the Order after all. Bella was right all along; she'll be unbearably pleased with herself. And now I see this movement was all part of their strategy. It is better for them for us to be here, with less time to set up proper defenses." He was ranting, obviously thinking out loud. "But how did you know?" he demanded, suddenly turning back to her.

"I -" she started to say, feeling afraid.

"Ah, I see," he interrupted. "You don't know; you just drew the connections yourself. Clever, I have to hand it to him. I was watching his mind closely. Well, let them come. If Harry Potter thinks that he can defeat me, he can die for his foolishness, right where I killed my worthless muggle father."

"I hate you," Luna said quietly and suddenly, the words spilling from her mouth before she even realized it, causing him to stop short in his tirade.

He drew close to her again, his beautiful face contorted in fury. "You don't get to hate me," he snarled, "not when you helped _make me_."

The truth behind his words hit her so forcefully that she limply slid down the wall to the ground in shock. How could she not have realized? She had given love to a boy dangerously close to the edge when he had never known it before, and then she had just taken it all away. Instead of making anything better for him, she had just caused him more pain, enough pain to push him over that edge. She had been a powerful link in the chain reaction that lead him to where he was now. He was right. She had helped create his monster.

She looked up at him through her lashes, feeling numb. He was looking down at her with disdain.

"Keep that necklace on at all times," he said coldly after a long moment, before sweeping out of the room.

Luna stayed on the floor for a long time after he'd gone, feeling weak and lonely. She wished Harry would call off the attack. She wasn't worth it. And she was fairly certain Tom wouldn't remember to tell Jugson to bring her food.


	32. Time

**Into Your Gravity**  
Chapter Thirty-Two: Time

* * *

A/N: THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER.

* * *

_Oh well the devil makes us sin_  
_ But we like it when we're spinning, in his grin._  
_ Love is like a sin my love_  
_ For the ones that feels it the most_  
-Massive Attack, "Paradise Circus"

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up now!"

Luna awoke to Tom's urgent voice, and to him shaking her shoulders. "What? What time is it?" she asked groggily. She had dwelt on unhappy thoughts for hours before dozing uneasily after he had left her room earlier in the day.

"It's after midnight. Your friends in the Order are coming," he spat. "Come with me. I'm taking you somewhere you won't be in the way."

Suddenly wide awake, Luna said, "The Order? How many?"

"Too many. Get up." He walked over to the armchair, where clothes lie for her. He picked these up and threw them at her. "Get dressed. Quickly."

"Where am I going?" she asked, as she began to dress. "I want to stay."

He rounded on her, pulling his wand from his robes and pointing it at her, his eyes ablaze with a madness that had breached the surface. "Do what I say. I don't have time for this."

"Curses will rebound on you," she said, reminding him of the oath he made not to harm her. She kept her eyes fixed on the tip of his wand nevertheless.

"I'm sure I can have Bella take care of you if need be," he seethed. "Move."

Luna's stomach turned over as she realized that at this point, with him so obviously frayed at the edges, it was not unlikely that he would follow through with that threat. She fell silent and finished dressing as quickly as possible, as Voldemort hovered by the door.

As soon as she was dressed, he seized her upper arm and hauled her out of the room and through the hallway. The death eaters were preparing for battle with a silence Luna found discomforting, as though a bit of doubt had wormed its way into their heads over the day and had settled in to grow. Busy as they were casting defensive spells on the building and positioning lookouts, they immediately leapt out of Voldemort's path as he passed with Luna in tow.

Voldemort flung the front door of the manor wide with a flick of his wand. They set off across the sloping grounds, and she noticed he had pulled an invisibility cloak out of his robes as they hurried into the dark night. He lead her around the back of the house towards a small, winding dirt path that, from her vantage point atop the hill, she could see led to the small graveyard a short distance away. Neither one of them spoke as they hurried down the path, their robes billowing behind them.

The night was chilly, just enough bite in the air to be uncomfortable, but the sky was clear and the stars were bright. Luna thought distractedly that there were far too many stars in the sky, and some of the little lights must be Giant Peruvian Fireflies, which would certainly fly away once all the noise from the battle started. She thought about mentioning this to Tom, but was fairly certain that even if he did happen to believe in Giant Peruvian Fireflies, he wasn't likely to want to discuss them at the moment.

The silence between them was only punctured by their breath until they reached the outermost gravestones of the cemetery.

"You must stay here," he hissed at her, moving quickly between the headstones until they reached a large marble pillar. "Sit," he order, pointed at the base of the pillar on the side facing away from the manor. She would be hidden, even without an invisibility cloak.

"I don't want to," she said quietly.

"I'm not particularly concerned with what you want right now," he snapped, his eyes burning with fury.

"Can I have my wand?" she asked as she sat beside the pillar, knowing the point was moot.

"No. Perhaps that will keep you from running into battle like a fool," he snarled and draped the invisibility cloak over her.

"You're leaving me here alone and unarmed?" she asked mildly, knowing he couldn't see the wrinkling of her nose beneath the cloak.

"There are wards around this area. So long as you don't _leave, _you will be fine. No more questions," he said and turned to leave.

In spite of the last order, she asked, "Why bother protecting me?"

He spun around, and for a moment she felt quite sure he could see her beneath the cloak after all. "Just do as I say!" he hissed.

Before she could argue with him anymore, he had disappeared between the graves, heading back in the direction of the house. And as soon as he had left, she felt a feeling of wrongness settle inside of her.

For nearly an hour, she heard and saw nothing. She was on edge, jumping at every night noise. She was cold, and for this reason she was grateful she had the invisibility cloak around her. She had read the inscription on the massive pillar behind which she hid, tracing the large letters of an unknown name with her finger. Every once in a while, she peaked around the edge of the pillar up at the manor on the hill, but nothing seemed to be happening. The waiting was becoming unbearable, and her nerves were ripping at her stomach. She was sure that her fate would be decided one way or the other tonight.

Finally, she heard a single voice shout something unintelligible, then a rush of voices, followed by a few distant bangs and pops. The sounds of fighting began to reach her ears, coming from the direction of the house. She watched diligently from around the pillar but the battle seemed to be taking place on the other side of the house or inside it. At one point, a window on the second floor shattered and a witch fell from it with a piercing cry, landing in the darkness at the base of the house. Luna stifled a cry of her own, and she was left to wondering if it had been a death eater or an Order member.

Luna tried to distract herself, but couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she should be doing something. She had never been one to sit and watch. She grew restless, unable to sit still. She fidgeted her toes back and forth in the soil of the graveyard. Should she run headlong into a battle wandless?

And at some point, she began to smell smoke, and the sky above the house glowed.

* * *

Someone had lit the house on fire. Oddly, Tom wasn't angered by this. The building itself was nothing more to him than his father's old house, and he had nothing of any real value inside.

He couldn't recall ever having felt like this during a battle. Like some sick potion was bubbling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel anxious and mad and out of control. _I'm afraid_, he thought with self-loathing as he killed yet another foolish young hero. The Longbottom boy had killed Nagini, a loss which he had not yet fully processed. He needed only to get through the battle; Nagini was a loss but she was not his only Horcrux. He refused to think about the weapon Longbottom had used: a basilisk fang. Surely Potter didn't know of his Horcruxes.

Bellatrix had struck down the traitor Snape a few minutes ago, something he would reward her richly for should she survive. He was just beginning to wonder where the precious Potter was when the brat appeared out of nowhere, sending hexes his way.

What was left of Tom's heart leapt into his throat as the two of them entered into a fierce duel. This was destiny at his door; tonight would determine forever. The two battled with a brutality and hatred that made all the other witches and wizards give them a wide berth, and they slowly moved away from the rest of the battle and closer to the burning house. Tom couldn't help but smile. It was time.

* * *

Luna was unbearably on edge. She simply could not rid herself of the feeling that she shouldn't be here; that she should be with Harry, with Voldemort, with all of them. Immediately. The more time went on, the more desperate the feeling became. The battling had crept around the sides of the burning house, and she could now see several pairs of wands firing back and forth at one another.

"I don't care!" she finally whispered aloud to herself. She stood up from the base of the pillar, wrapping the invisibility cloak tighter around her. She saw a few people running away from the battle as she hurried towards it, though she couldn't who was running. The noises of the fight grew louder, and the smell of smoke grew stronger as she left the graveyard and began hurrying back up the path.

The house was now completely engulfed in flames. She glanced up at it for a moment as she reached the top of the hill. While she watched, the whole building gave a horrid groan and seemed to waver, spewing embers and smoke upon the dueling people surrounding it. Pulling her eyes away from the fire, she looked at the battle raging on in front of her. She saw many people she knew, and some people she didn't know. It seemed that the Death Eaters were, for once, equally matched man for man by the Order.

Watching the ongoing fight only preoccupied her attention for a moment before she remembered that she needed to find Tom and Harry. She was certain that if she found one, she would find the other, and although she had no idea what she would do once she found them, the feeling in her chest told her that she absolutely must find them.

Running towards where the house had stood, Luna could feel the air growing almost unbearably hot the closer she got to the flames. She was now no longer grateful for the cloak's warmth, but she dared not discard it in the midst of the battle. She weaved in between all the wizards and witches fighting, not noticing that she was almost hit by a few spells. She was only intent on finding Harry and Tom.

Finally, she spotted them, only a few yards away from the house. They were dueling each other alone, almost apart from the rest of the battle. Although she was still running, she felt as if her legs were lead – she just couldn't move quickly enough. Her breath was burning her lungs as she inhaled mouthfuls of smoke and hot air.

Suddenly, when Luna was only a few yards away, Harry's wand flew out of his hands. Luna's stomach dropped as she realized he had been disarmed. Voldemort was advancing slowly on Harry.

* * *

"Well, here we are. The famous Harry Potter is at my mercy," Tom smirked, moving closer toward the boy, gloating in his every word and every step. Just as he began to raise his wand in order to kill the boy once and for all, the burning house gave another groan. Mixed with the sound of the groan was a shriek from Luna, who had suddenly appeared nearby out of thin air.

Tom looked up in time to see the house collapse, and to see one broken beam flying towards him. He leapt aside, using unconscious magic to help him out of harm's way. He landed perhaps a foot from Harry and was momentarily distracted.

Harry had seized the moment. He had whipped the Sorting Hat from his robes and plunged a hand into it, pulling Gryffindor's sword from it's depths. As soon as Voldemort had land beside him, Harry plunged the sword into Voldemort's wretched body.

Harry released the sword, and Voldemort stumbled backward, clutching at the sword faintly as unnaturally dark blood seeped over long, white fingers.

"Your Horcruxes are gone, Tom," Harry whispered, though without much triumph in his voice.

The pain that blossomed through Tom's body was unlike any he'd ever experienced before. Even when the Killing Curse had rebounded upon him and he'd been forced out of his body, even when he'd rent his soul into pieces. This was different. He could feel the very life in him began to ebb out of him, like a glass full of water that's sprung a leak. This was deep. This was fatal. This was mortal.

* * *

Luna felt her body convulse. She felt oddly as if her spine had suddenly shrunk three inches. She wanted to scream again, but felt like the volume on her voice wasn't working, just like her daddy's broken radio back home. She stumbled forward, reaching out to Tom like a zombie.

Both Harry and Voldemort were staring at her now. She wasn't angry with Harry, she had understood this all along, and she was sure he knew that even though she went past him directly to Tom.

Tom suddenly coughed violently. He moved one of his hands to cover his mouth out of habit. When he removed his hand, it was spattered with new blood. He stared at it for a moment, as though not comprehending the sight of his own humanity, then raised his eyes to her face again. Their eyes met and he sank to his knees, his face still largely devoid of expression. When Luna knelt next to him, Tom reached out, saying nothing of the fact that she had disobeyed his wishes of staying in the graveyard. He grabbed at her necklace, which still hung around her neck, his hand slick with his own blood. He forced himself to grab the necklace and pull, snapping the chain at the back of her neck. He coughed again, no longer a handsome young man in her eyes, but the wretch he had become, and the wretch he was dying as. She still reached out to him.

Growing weaker by the second, he wanted to be furious that, in the end, he had died, just like a human. Not just like any human, but like a muggle. But he couldn't muster enough strength to be furious. He was growing dizzy and it was beginning to be difficult to focus on what he wanted to do and, just as importantly, what he wanted to say. "Luna," he croaked, surprised to hear his own voice so drained.

"Yes, Thomas, I'm here," she replied.

He expected to feel the familiar flash of annoyance at her calling him Thomas, but it wouldn't come. He realized he no longer cared. He also noticed that the fighting around them continued, no one quite having noticed yet what had happened. Potter was still staring, but he found he no longer cared about that either. "I knew you wouldn't stay there."

"I tried," she said, finding it was the only thing she could think of to say.

He shook his head slightly to make her stop talking. "Just listen to me," he tried to say. All that mattered was that he carried out the plan he had set up. He had done so as a backup plan, even while denying he needed one. He was glad of it now.

Luna shook her head right back at him. "You're dying."

Tom felt his lips curl upwards into a small smile. Only she could tell him he was dying in such a way that didn't infuriate or terrify him. Staring up into her face, which was silhouetted by light from the flames behind her, he thought that she had achieved something he never had, that she was greater than human. "Luna. Listen to me. Trust me." Speaking was becoming increasingly difficult, and he hoped she would let him finish as quickly as possible. He was almost out of time.

"I always trusted you more than I should have," she said, almost but not quite bitter. Her hand ran across his forehead as if to comfort him, but it shook to much to do so.

He lifted the hand that held her necklace in it, as if to show it to her. "Trust me," he repeated, his voice now just barely above a whisper. Inhaling a rattling breath as deeply as he could, he used his last strength to suddenly lob the stone into the flames of the burning building a few yards away. He felt her tense, but she was unwilling to leave his side to go and retrieve the necklace. "I have to tell you." This was possibly the hardest part of everything he'd planned. "I love you, Luna."

Her lips parted slightly as though in a minuscule gasp. But then she shook her head again. "I know," she said, her eyes pools of light that seemed to outshine even the flames behind her, and he realized he hadn't needed to say it for her, but for himself.

"Go get it," he said, gesturing towards where he'd thrown the necklace as he exhaled one last time.

* * *

At first, she was unable to move. She bent low over him, shuddering in spite of the intense heat coming off the flames. Feeling like her lungs were collapsing, Luna finally forced herself to move. Picking up Tom's wand, she moved slowly in the direction that he had thrown the stone. She vaguely heard Harry call her name, but she ignored him. Not because she was angry with him, but because her heart had too many heavy things in it at the moment to take anything else without collapsing like the burning house had.

Coughing on tears and smoke, she stuttered, "Accio necklace!" She watched as the stone rose out of the flames and flew towards her. Unthinking, she held her hand out for it. It dropped into her palm and instantly burned her, causing her to drop it. It landed on the soft grass, and she knelt to look at it more closely. As she watched, the gem part melted away like candle wax, seeping into the ground, and revealing a tiny piece of parchment. Picking up the enchanted paper, Luna noted that the words on it were written in Tom's own hand:

"_It will only work once, and it will only take you where you need to go."_

Luna stared at the words on the paper, wondering what they could possibly mean, when she noticed that another tiny thing had been stowed away inside the stone, which now glittered with reflected fire.

A Time-Turner.

* * *

A/N: In case you missed the first author's note, this is the last chapter. The first couple reviewers have gotten the impression that this story will continue. Unless I write a sequel, THIS IS IT. If there is no sequel, it is up to you what she does with the Time-Turner. I didn't want to put a note here because it messes up the ending but I didn't want there to be confusion. Barring any POSSIBLE sequel, this story is COMPLETE.


End file.
